Second in Command
by AmGT
Summary: You(the reader, male or female) are a loyal soldier: The Joker's 2nd in command. The history between you and the boss is more complex than anyone could ever imagine. Violence and sex. (My Joker is no fluff, his dark nature flies free. I used Leto's take on MJ to form my characterization of this Joker (appealing to the masses I guess - what can I say i'm a people pleaser)
1. Rumored History

The gun shot rang out across the empty parking complex, echoing it's way into the ears of everyone there. Everyone stopped. All movement completely ceased. The look on Tommy's face was fear. He had tried to pull his poorly hidden gun out before his opportunity had passed but in the process the trigger had been pulled accidentally. Tommy's crew knew it was over. There was no way out of this shit storm. The thoughts of what was about to happen to them ran threw their heads in slow motion. They knew all the stories were true. Every single, horrible thing anyone had every heard was all true.

No one, not even you, bother pulling out their guns. There was no point. It was only Tommy and the three guys he has brought with him. They stood no chance against The Joker and his crew. You were part of that crew. Something you were proud of: to be a member The Joker's loyal enter circle.

The boss still had his back turned to Tommy. The meeting had ended, so he was walking back to his Lamborghini. He made no afford to run or duck after hearing the gun shot. In truth, he had smiled. He lived for chaos.

Tommy had already raised his hands and put his head down. As if he was asking for mercy.

"Tommy, Tommy. Tom-MAS. Tom. Tommy Boy." The boss said in the most flamboyant manner.

Squatting down in front of Tommy, he continued "You missed me."

Running his hands threw Tommy's hair roughly and grabbed his face with both hands, bring tommy eye to eye with him.

"You. Missed. me." He flashed his silver grin. "Did ya mean to miss me? Do ya need another try?" He reached around and grabbed the gun Tommy had tried to use.

"Here," handing him the gun. Tommy made no afford to take the gun. "I'll give ya one shot."

"Look J-" Tommy's words were interrupted by J grabbing his hand and placing the gun into it. Tommy still did nothing. Without hesitation J guided Tommy's hand so that Tommy was now pointing the gun a the boss's chest.

"Do it. Do it...Come on, do it, Tommy." He was begging.

Tommy slowly started to shake his head no. His face looked as if he was crying but there were no tears. The gun was shaking in his hand, in fact, tommy's whole body was shaking. After a few seconds Tommy slowly let the gun drop.

"No then? Don't have the balls my boy?" J said taunting him.

Without warning J lunged forward so hard that he knocked Tommy back into the pavement causing him to hit his head. The gun was knocked out of his hand and slid toward you. You stopped it with your foot.

J was on top, straddling Tommy as he began to strangle him. Tommy was dazed from hitting his head but still grabbed at J's hands. The more he struggled, the harder J choked him. As normal the boss remained calm, almost peaceful, never showing he was slowly squeezing the life out of a man. The last tiny gasp of air out of Tommy caused J to lean in closer. His grip on the neck lasted longer than necessary. With a quick peck on Tommy's cheek, J released his grip, then sit up and threw his arms into the air like he was thanking an audience for the performance he had just given.

A small flick of the boss's finger was your cue, picking up the gun from under your foot. It only took three shots. And the rest of Tommy's crew, with their heads half blown off, hit the ground.

"HA...HA...HA." J's laugh was iconic. It was his way of saying he approved.

* * *

Walking off of the elevator you could here their conversation. You had been held up dealing with the fact that someone had called the cops about the parking complex shooting. As normal when a cop showed up that wasn't on The Joker's payroll, they were offered a chance to overlook things and join the team. Or face a bullet.

"What's the plan boss?" A henchmen asked.

"Tommy didn't plan that on his own, J. You know they put him up to it." Another one chimed in.

You looked around the room before entering. J was making himself a drink. Something he always did. _Trust issues_ you thought to yourself.

"He was, lubed up and sent out to do someone else's fucking." J said while giving a slight thrust of his hips. "You could say, He busted his load too early."

There was chuckling from everyone. It even put a smile on your face as you walked into join the meeting. You could have easily walked in, marched yourself to the front of the room and have any of your fellow crew member get up and offer you their chair. But that wasn't your style. Instead you snuck in and stood in the very back.

You were second in command to The Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime. Nothing had ever actually been discussed between you and the boss to make it official. Therefore you never crossed any lines, no matter how much power you knew you had, you were very humble. Regardless of this, it was very clear to everyone; you were it, the person who held all the cards when the boss wasn't around. So, naturally people talked how you came to gain The Joker's respect.

There were rumors that you had known the boss before he became who he was now. The story went...the two of you had gotten your start in the same shitty street gang as teenagers. Years later the gang was split up and each of you became members of two different opposing crime families. While with these families, both, you and J rose to the top. Becoming major players for each crime boss. But what these crime families didn't know was a plan, that had been set-up years prior, was beginning to come full circle. As J slowly took over the criminal enterprise of the strongest crime family in the city, you were slowly causing an internal conflict with their rival crime family; Setting into motion the events that would allow for the Clown Prince to claim his crown.

Of course, rumors are rumors...


	2. Only the Start

Anyone in the apartment could easily hear what was going on in the bedroom. J was fucking his queen, Harley Quinn.

Getting up off the sofa you walked across the sitting room toward the hallway. You were doing a quick security sweep. Coming around the corner you could see one of the henchmen peeking thru the opening in the door. He immediately looked up and you nodded for him to scram.

You had planned on ignoring the sexual circus happening inside the boss's bedroom, just like you had for years. But as you walked past the opened door the smell of the boss's cologne hit your nostrils. There were always certain rooms of the house that smelled like him and of course, his bedroom was one of them. The smell made him immediately appear in your mind. After all, he was a very attractive man.

Before you could stop yourself, a glance into the bedroom revealed the boss standing near the foot of the bed. You assumed Harley was laying down because she wasn't within view. J was shirtless. He was stripped down to nothing but his black dress pants. His gold chain necklace laid against his pale white skin. As always, his skin looked soft and translucent, making his black tattoos appear almost fake.

The thought of how inappropriate this was entered and then left your mind as quickly as it came.

J's attention was on Harley. Whatever she was doing had peeked J's full attention. He was rock hard. You could clearly see his bulge through his pants. He slowly ran both of his hands over his head. Pushing his roughed up green hair out of his eyes. He took a few steps toward the bed, making him leave your view. You noticed his dark blue shirt, shoulder holster and gun were draped over a chair.

You could hear the soft tone of Harley's voice right before the loud sound of a slap. It was a hard slap too. You could hear movement then Harley walked pass the door and disappeared from view again. Tilling your head in order to see more, you couldn't find Harley anywhere in the room. Your view was limited.

Hearing water you realized that Harley had gone into the bathroom.

"Puddlin'" she called out.

By now you could J again. He was looking into the bathroom where Harley was.

"Ya made me do it. Come here, and let Daddy see." He wasn't apologetic in any form.

He turned his head slightly when something caught his attention.

It felt like your heart dropped to the floor. Immediately your thoughts turn to panic _. Is he looking at me? Does he see me? I'm in a dark hallway, there is way no he can see me. Wouldn't he say something if he did?_ Your eyes widen with surprise...no, fear...no, maybe something else. The boss did nothing but continued to look. _Maybe he doesn't see me. Run! No. If he hadn't seen me already, he would surly see me if I m_ ove. So there you stood. Not sure if what seemed to be eye to eye contact with J was actually eye to eye contact.

What felt like an eternity was only a few seconds before Harley came bouncing out of the bathroom and wrapped her arms around J's neck. She had blocked his face. Relief washed over you that the 'maybe' eye contact had been broken between you and J. _Leave. Now._ But before you could even finish telling your legs to move, J grabbed Harley's hair and was kissing her.

Your eyes move down Harley's back, to her waist, to her hips, thighs and back up again. She was beautiful. He continued by tossing her hair out of his way then tilling her head slowly to the side. His blood red lips pressed against her neck making her moan. You could hear a deep soft growl come from his throat.

Your panic had been quickly replaced with lust as you watched the boss's lip press against her neck. For a moment, you found yourself imagining you and Harley's places were switched. Lost in your thoughts, it surprised you when J lifted his head and looked right at you. Your mouth fell open; a gasp without any noise. Instantly he flashed that silver smile and you knew. You knew that: Yes, he could see you.

J whispered something in Harley's ear. She flashed a look at the door opening and then moved behind him. No one was ever sure if her actions were her own or if everything she did was an orchestration of his own desire. Her hands slowly moved around his chest and down his hard abs. She slowly started undoing his belt buckle. When it was undone she yanked it quickly, causing the belt to come flying out of each belt loop with a popping noise.

"Ooh, baby doll." It rolled out of J's mouth.

Harley only giggled tossing the belt in your direction. She unbutton his pants. As she tucked her hand into the waist line it caused his zipper to start slowly unzipping itself. This whole time, you realized, your eyes had been fixed on what Harley's hand had been doing.

Looking up to J's face and seeing that his eyes were locked on you, created a feeling embarrassment. You could feel the blood rushing to your face. Then it dawned on you, he had a small smirk on his face. He was enjoying the situation. This caused an instant release of adrenaline inside of you that made you feel dizzy.

His unbutton and beltless pants were hanging onto his slither hips. The top of his boxers were peeking out. They were silk and gold in color. You watched as he rubbed his flat belly and slipped his hand into his boxers. You hadn't moved more than a few facial muscles this whole time, so you were surprised by the reflex of your body to put your hand to your chest and slightly grab your own shirt. It was like you were holding yourself back. Or maybe you were waiting on was an invitation.

Then it came. As J stood there, half naked with his hand slowly rubbing his hard dick, he motioned with his head for you to come in. Just a nod.

It was an unexpected reflex. Your body wanted one thing but your head made you do the complete opposite _. What the fuck? What are you doing?_ It was the first time you had actually not done something the boss asked of you...ever. You were almost running down the hall trying to get away. Your heart was beating like a race horse. You were fearful because others had been killed for less.

You got to the end of the hallway and cut through the dinning room, bypassing some of the other henchmen who were in the kitchen. Then making your way back around into the library and out into the foyer. You could see the front door to the apartment. _Just get out the door. It'll be ok._

You were only a few feet away from the door when the knife flew pass you and hit the door.

Making you stop in your tracks.

He must have immediately started after you.

You didn't turn around. With no idea how he would react, you just closed your eyes and stood there with your back to him.

You'd known and served this man for a long time and never under any circumstance had this scenario ever crossed your mind. You could hear him walking up behind you. You trusted and loved this man but for the first time ever, you reached across your body and placed your hand on your gun and unsnapped it from it's holster, out of fear of him.

"Wait there just a second, hot stuff." His ability to be eccentric, terrifying and sexy all at the same time was amazing.

"I'd never dream of..." placing his hand on top of yours and moved it, leaving the gun where it was.

"...killing ya." He whispered the last part right into your ear.

He was standing behind you. His body completely pressed up against you, not hiding the fact he was still rock hard. Your eyes were still closed. Maybe you were afraid you look. Maybe you were afraid of what might happen next.

"I'm pretty sure ya really don't...wanna do that." He said into your ear making you tense up.

He started to growl. You could feel the growl through your body and it made you arch your back. Feeling you move, he deepen his growl and then playfully bit at the back of your neck. This caused you the jerk your head forward and your body away from him. A small scuffle between the two of you ended up with him wrapping his arms tight around your waist. He was fighting to keep you close.

"Careful." He snapped, picking you off your feet just a little and giving you a jerk. You stop struggling but remand tense.

"Keep putting of a fight and ya might not get what ya want." Giving his hips a playful but hard thrust into you.

Summing your courage you open your eyes and turn your head just enough to the side so you could see him. He wasn't smiling but his eyes were wide. He was very much intrigued.

"Hey, what's goin-oh, Boss" two of the guys that had been in the kitchen ran in to investigate the commotion. "Everything alri-"

"LEAVE." He was loud and forceful.

This broke the tension and caused his grip around you to loosen enough that you felt the opportunity to pull away. So you did. He allowed it. You watched the guys leave. One of them glanced back and looked at you. You did your best to produce a look that suggested you were ok.

But what did it matter, even if you had started screaming for help they would have done nothing. J made the law and all laws were followed.

After watching them leave, you turned and pulled the knife out of the door and threw it on the floor. "Really?" suggesting you were disappointed at the implication that it had been for you. It was a pointless comment and done out of nervousness.

J stood there, mouth open slightly, breathing heavy. He watched you like a predator watches it's prey. Then he licked his lips together and said "Come here." Until now you hadn't seen, noticed or pay any attention but he was still in his black pants, still shirtless, and his hair had fallen out of place. He was ready to pouch.

What else was there to do but obey. You started toward him. His stance loosened up as soon as he saw that you were following his instruction. Cracking his neck, he gestured for you to go to the chair on the other side of the room. You did so.

You weren't sure if it showed but on the inside you're a mess. Nervous. As you approach the chair you look to him for your further instruction. Again he said nothing only gestured for you to sit.

Walking over to the wet bar, by the piano, he grabbed a bottle in one hand and a glass in the other.

He didn't said a word until he was standing in front of you.

Every word was sincere.

"I've seen you lay waste to my enemies." He handed you the empty glass.

"You kill for me, without hesitation or prejudice." There's pride and passion in his voice as he talks about others killing in his name.

"Devoted, loyal to the end."

He poured a little liquor into the glass as you held it. Finishing, he took the glass, downed the shot and threw it into a mirror, breaking both. Never taking your eyes off of him, you still jump from the loud noise. Squatting in front of you, he made sure he was eye level .

He pointed his finger at you, "Never. And I mean never...disobey me."

"Never transgress, against me." He paused.

"Never...Never Never Never..." he grabbed your chin softly and ran his thumb over your lips.

"Never, Deny me anything...ever...again." He was intoxicated; intoxicated with the power he had over you.

There was silence for a long time. He had purposefully lingered in the moment to show dominance.


	3. The Brothers Zothmah

"Hey. Hey! Sleepy head, wake up." It was Harley's voice. She giggled then poked you. "Get ya self on up."

The light hit your eyes causing your brain to feel like it was trying to beat it's way out of your skull. You were still sitting in the chair where the boss had left you. Physically, he hadn't done nothing but roughed you up a bit. Mentally, he had left you with so many questions and a huge feeling of doubt. In the wake of last night, your first action had been to have a drink. Apparently there had been enough alcohol involved that you didn't remember falling asleep in the chair.

"They're gone." Harley said twirling the ends of her hair around her finger. "Mistah J said you're taking me shopping today. Anything. I. Want." She giggled like a child.

Immediately the doubt you felt grew, but you hid it well. What is this?

You called down for a car, then took the time to go into the restroom. Freshening up as much as you could, you washed your face and did battle with your hair. Your contacts were causing your eyes to feel like they were on fire. After taking them out you slipped on your glasses. Next, You took extra care as you checked your gun making sure everything was in working order. Slipping it back into your shoulder holster you could feel the holster needed adjusting. The image of J holding you by your waist flashed in and out of your head. It made you think to look into the mirror to ensure your clothes were in the right place.

At least you came out looking better even if didn't feeling any better. The events from last night were on repeat inside your head. It seemed every a detail became exaggerated the more you found yourself thinking about them. It was almost impossible to make yourself deal the business at hand.

Most of the day you were in auto-mode. If Harley expected it, you would there to oblige. The key was to tune her out just enough to be able to maintain your sanity. You couldn't speak for others but the respect you gave her was an extension of the respect you had for J. If not for the circumstances created last night, this would not be happening. Why the hell did you have to do that..

You continued to contemplate. Something isn't right. Obviously. The boss isn't the type of man to care about someone else's feelings. The fact that I might be uncomfortable around him, after last night, wouldn't have even crossed his mind. So what is this? The only time i've ever been put me on Harley Patrol was when J had used her as bait, without her knowing, to try and catch the bat.

Finally you forced yourself to stop the chaos going on inside your head.

It was nearly 5 in the afternoon by the time the limo arrived back to the apartment building . You waited for Harley to get out and watched as all the bags were removed from the car. She was raiding each bag as they were being unloaded. Tossing pieces of clothes here and there. She looked like an excited kid, refreshing her memory of all the goodies gotten earlier in the day. The doormen were trying to keep everything in order. It was actually a sight to behold.

Two of the guys who had gone with the boss this morning were coming out of the building. Mo and Lee.

"Miss Harley, he wants to see you." Lee announced. She smiled and bounced into the building with glee. He followed right behind her.

Mo walked up to you. "We watched the Zothmah Brothers for a while today. Those were the last people Tommy worked for." He respected you enough to fill you in with the business of the day. "We left a group of guys to watch their building and another set to follow the brothers when they leave."

You nodded your head in approval.

"Besides that, I don't know what the plan is." He said looking for another nod of approval. "Jonny and his guys are working tonight." He motioned up toward the building's higher floors where the boss stayed.

He paused for a few second then hesitantly asked, "What'd the boss have you doing with the misses today? Anything important?"

You gave him the look. The look that suggested don't ask and because you did ask, it's none of your business. I wonder if they've been talking. You knew Mo had been there last night, in fact, him and Lee had been the two who had walked in on you and the boss.

Immediately he changed the subject."I'm going to see my kid tonight."

"Anna's letting you see the kid again?" You didn't really care but could tell Mo was excited.

"Yeah. Unicorn or Doll?"

"What?" You asked looking confused.

"Unicorn or doll? Which one for a little girl?" He actually sounded like he needed a legitimate answer.

"Yea, Yea. Right..." Pausing you pulled out your phone and looked at it.

"The boss." Mo stated it as a fact.

"The boss." You reply, confirming Mo's statement.

You stared at the phone long enough that when you look up, Mo was a good ten feet away from you already.

"Hey! HEY!" Getting Mo's attention. "A Unicorn. Unicorn every time." Yelling it loud enough so he could hear you over the sound of everyone on the street. He smiled and threw his hand up, giving you a slight wave. For no reason, you watched as he disappeared into the crowd. Maybe subconsciously you were wasting time, nervous to look at the message from J.

With a deep breath you read it.

J: GO HOME. THE CIRCUS STARTS 4AM.

You smile and held a cab.

You reread the text about four times. You were relieved by the normalcy of the message. The circus was code for business and not just any kind of business. This referred to the kind of business that only ended with people dying. You were almost positive it was in reference to the Zothmah Brothers. Things were as they should be.

A few minutes later the cab pulled up to your home. The flashy high-rises could still be seen but you lived in more modest area of the city. The street was lined with brownstones and tended to be a very quiet neighborhood. It just so happened, it turned out to be a great camouflage for a violent gangster, like yourself. Unlike most, you had never had your work show up at your door. Something you had always felt was a product of having a good head on your shoulders.

Mmm, smells like home. Like anyone, you found comfort being home. The first floor had a large sitting area, a kitchen, and a small library. You continued up the stairs, to the second floor. The whole floor was a bedroom with bath. The third and last floor was an office and work area with a hidden weapons vault. There was also a hidden passage, on the third floor, to the brownstone next door in case you ever had to cut-and-run.

The plan had been to shower before falling asleep. But between the lingering headache and your decision to rest your head on the pillow, you didn't stand chance. As soon as your eyes closed, they opened. Immediately you rolled over onto your back and looked at the clock: 1052pm. You had been asleep almost four hours. Everything was dark with the exception of the street lights shining through the open curtains of the room. Laying there you listened to the sounds of coming from the city. You reached and found your phone on the night stand. There wasn't any other text or missed calls.

You felt two things, grubby and hunger. After sleeping in the same clothes that you'd been wearing for two days, your need for a shower won over your desire for food. As you let the water run, becoming just the right temperature, you got undressed. You'd never been overly heavy or overly skinny, just average. You kept your hair style close to whatever the latest trend was and never found yourself dying it wild colors. Nothing about you stood out except your tattoos.

The tattoo on the right side of your neck was a joker card. It was his Joker Card: his calling card. On the left side of your neck there were small black Xs covering all of it. There were so many of them, that over the years, you had to start tattooing them on your left shoulder, then down to just below your collar bone, they also covered good portion of your shoulder blade and about a 1/3 of your upper arm. In the sea of tiny black Xs, purple Xs could be found mingled in with the others. They were slightly bigger than the black ones. Most assumed that the Xs were kills. They were right, of course. The Maroni Family's crest was on top of your left hand. It had been defaced with simple smiley face tattoo that J had actually done. Your right hand sported the word mercy down your trigger finger and on the same side you had a forearm tat of your gun. Written along side the gun was Thou Shall Kill In The Name Of Love Hate Death Freedom The Joker.

You finished up with your shower and got dress. It was only 1230am but you were anxious to see everyone, the boss especially. So you decided to conduct yourself like you always had. Showing up early wasn't a big deal. There was always business to intend to.

You showed up at the warehouse. A couple of the docking doors where open and you could see a few you the guys standing around. As you walked up you got the normal nods and looks you always did. Inside there was an arsenal laid out across a few tables being cleaned by some more guys. Looking around you could see a van, a few cars and the boss's Lamborghini.

Making your way thru the warehouse you started hearing men moaning. It was the Zothmah Brothers. They were tied up and gagged in one of the offices. The boss was questioning them.

Clearly, the plans had changed.

J was sitting in front of the brothers with his chair turned around backwards. His dress coat was off and the sleeves of his burgundy shirt were rolled up to the elbow. Fresh blood dripped from his knuckles. His arms were crossed and draped over the chair's back very casually.

"Now. I'm gonna take this out of your mouth and ya going to tell me-" J continued as Mo walked up next to you and started whispering.

"They left earlier," he nodded to the brothers. "So our guys followed them...all the way to the warehouse. To here."

You listened. "I reckon, they thought they were pulling one over on us. They just walked right in."

You and Mo watched as J used has favorite toy on one brothers, causing him to scream and cry. He was trying to persuade the other brother to talk. It worked. The other brother had also been worked over, blood was flowing from his mouth. But it wasn't until seeing his sibling in such pain that he began to divulge information. He named Lee as a rat; saying he had told them all about everything. As soon as the brother stopped confessing, J shot both of them in the head.

"Get'em out of here." J said still holding his gun as he sit back down in the chair.

"Where you want'em boss?" One of the henchmen asked. J didn't reply.

"In the river." You said. It was normal for you to answer for the boss. "Make sure you dump them near the chemical plant." You didn't notice but when J heard the sound of your voice, he looked up and found where you were in the room.

The brother's body were gone, taken from the room. J got up, walked over to a table where a towel was. He picked it up and started wiping some of the blood from his hands. You and Mo were the only two left in the room with him.

Leaning against the table he started talking, "Seal our little rat in a barrel. I want him alive 'em some air holes. Let's keep him alive for a while."

"Yes sir." Mo replied and started to leave.

"Give him some friends too. Some rats for a rat." J amused himself and started to laugh.

"Yes, sir." Mo stopped in the doorway to finish listening to the bosses orders. The door closed behind him and J's laugher stopped immediately.

You were glad that you still felt at ease around him. Things felt normal.

"We should clean out their whole crew." You said walking closer to J. As you walked you stopped and looked down. You had stepped on something. One of the brother's teeth had been left behind on the floor. You kicked at it.

You picked it up, "A few of the low level guys will gladly work for us. I doubt they know enough to make them dangerous." J was still leaning against the table, he had started to unroll his shirt sleeves and wasn't really acknowledging you.

You stood up, tooth in hand and walked over to him. Casually, you sat the tooth beside him on the table. He looked down at it and then up at you. He started smiling, like there was a joke and he was the only one in on it. He slowly stood up. And step by step, he slowly corralled you up against it the table. You realized what was happening when you felt the back of your leg brush up against the table.

You glanced, very quickly, down at the table and then right back to J. He was taller than you by a few inches. He was so close, in order to look at his face, you had to lift your head slightly. He was intimidating starting down at you with his silver smile and wild eyes. He moved his hand over his head, making sure his hair was in place.

You were only guessing at what his intentions were. _This is it. Is he going to...kiss me? No. Thank god. What do I do? Maybe he'll stop._ You were no longer excited about the possibility of sexual activity as you were the night before. It wasn't that he any less attractive to you but anxiety performance is a hell of thing.

"U-h-mu-" Nothing but noise came out of your mouth. Just a short nervous half moan that was interrupted by J putting a single finger against his own lips.

"Shhh." He let another smile spread across his face, behind his finger. He was about to take what he wanted.

In a flash, he pushed you down on the table. It was unexpected and hurt, you didn't have time to brace yourself. The air in your lungs had actually been knocked out of you. For a moment all you could do was struggle to catch your breath until you felt his hands undoing your belt. _Oh my god._ With one continuous motion he unbutton your pants and had them off. You never stood a chance.

Your bare legs were exposed, dangling from the table, just barley touching the floor. You realized he had left your underwear on, this brought you little to no comfort. You began to lift yourself up with your elbows. But he grabbed your legs near the knee and pulled you to him. At the same time, he was spreading your legs making it so you were straddling him.

Your back was flat against the table and your ass was almost hanging off the edge. Still holding your legs he started to move his hands up the sides of your thighs. The gold rings on his fingers were cold to the touch. He stopped his hands at your waist, where your underwear and shirt met. With a violent tug, he managed to rip every button off your shirt. Letting it fall open, it exposed your stomach and chest.

Looking at your exposed body, "Well, whatda we have here."

He was moving his hand over your exposed body without actually touching you. He enjoyed teasing.

"Mmm," it was between a moan and growl."Gorgeous."

You weren't fighting back, instead, you were compliant. But at the same time you hadn't actually said yes to any of this. _Never deny him of anything_ , you thought. There was nothing romantic about any of it. He wasn't doing this to make you feel good, it was about power and what he wanted. So it surprised you when he softly placed one of his hands your belly and started to feel his way up your body.

As he did, he leaned in close, allowing more of your two bodies to touch. You could feel how hard he was between your legs; you couldn't stop yourself from grinding up against him. He took notice. He grabbed one of your legs and allowed you to grind into him again. He continued to slide his hand up your body, brushing one of your nipples. You shivered a little. He paid no attention and continued til he got to your neck.

He wrapped his hand around your neck and turned your head to the side, exposing the Joker Card tattoo on the left side of your neck. He released his grip. You turned your head back, just a little, to look at him. He grabbed your neck a lot harder this time and turned your head back to where he wanted it with great force. You stayed put this time, not moving a muscle. He started to trace the outline of the joker. He was admiring his mark on you; his brand on his property.

You felt his finger stop tracing the tattoo and the weight of his body lift off of you just a little. Peeking out the corner of your eye, you could see that he was sitting up just enough to stare. He was studying you. Cautiously you turned your head, you wanted to look at him. For a brief instant, the two of you stared back at one another. The moment didn't long. He snapped out of it.

He pulled himself completely off of you and stood up. Grabbing your arms, he roughly yanked you up off the table. Standing you up, he turned you over and forced you face down. You felt him rip your underwear away and without warning he thrust himself into you.

You gasped loudly, somewhere between pain and pleasure. At first he made no movement, he only growled. He was clearly enjoying the feeling of having his hard dick deep inside you. Pushing into to you as far as he could go, he caused you to moan and squirm. He slowly started to pull out but before he was completely out of you, he very quickly and very forcibly thrust back into you. Then out, then in, then out, then in. His rhythm was steady and never slowed. You could feel every inch of his hard, thick dick slide out of you and every inch of it slide right back into you.

The longer he fucked you and heavier his breathing became. He finally let go of your hips and leaned over you, placing his hand on the nape of your neck. He grabbed some of your hair in the process. This excited you.

At some point you realized that you had started enjoying what was happening. You matched his rhythm; pushing into him everytime he thrusted into you. You tried to look back and couldn't move your head. Without thinking, in a pure impulse reaction, you reached backed and grabbed hold of his hand that was forcefully holding on your neck. His reaction was to fuck you faster, just like anyone would have done at the sign of enjoyment from a partner. This turned you on even more.

For a moment you thought a climax was within your reach but it wasn't long and he was done.

You could feel his dick pumping it's load into your wasted no time pulling himself together. You got up and sit down on the table and watched him. He said nothing. As he started out the door, he turned and gave you a wink.


	4. Like Normal

You felt the sting of soreness hit when you woke. It made you smile. Regardless of the violent and aggressive manner that J had fucked you yesterday, you couldn't help but feel excited about the possibility of it happening again. The fact that many would have labeled it as rape didn't concern you. In the end, you wanted it and had enjoyed every single moment of it.

There was no light coming through the windows yet. It was still very early in the morning. You looked at the night stand clock and confirmed this. It was 515am. You laid there and thought. What do I say? Nothing, act normal. Let him say something first. Yes. You argued with yourself about what to and what not to do. In the end, you accomplished nothing but a great masturbation couldn't help yourself once you started to think, in detail, about J grabbing and throwing you around, touching your body, grabbing your neck, undressing you, and fucking you.

You showered and dressed...like normal. Putting on a dark navy pair of slender slacks, a black dress shirt, with a tight matching navy vest. You ate breakfast...like normal. A bowl of oatmeal with granola mixed in. You report to the warehouse...like normal.

It was Friday, pay off day. You and the boss were the only two with the combination to the safe.

One of your duties was to make sure everyone had the money needed to pay off anyone that 'looked the other way': cops, government and city officials, guards. You also met with most of the government informants who, out of fear, fed information to the boss about any and everything.

There was a knock on the office door. You could see through the door's window that it was one of the guys with the Mayor of Gotham. You motioned for him to come in.

"Good morning. Beautiful day we're having." The Mayor always acted like he was running for office.

Your expression was blank, "Sit down." He shut up and scrambled to sit down.

"Imagine our surprise last Sunday." You pulled out your gun and sit it down in front of you."We need the dates and times for any other raids the Commissior is planning."

"As you well know Gordon's a tuff one, who won't crack and he's surrounded himself with only a few cops who are very loyal to him. He doesn't trust me." You could hear the fear in the mayor's voice.

You crossed your arms and said nothing.

"I..I...I've tried to get information before. I swear. Gordon won't talk to me." He was sweating as he pleaded.

There was silence for a long. You purposely allowed it to become awkward before waving for Mo to enter into the office. As the door open yelling could be heard from the warehouse making the mayor look over his shoulder cautiously. Mo walked over to you.

You made sure to whisper so the mayor couldn't hear you, "Put two guys on him. Make sure he sees them trailing him. He needs to feel the pressure." Mo nodded and left the office.

You knew the mayor was panicking. He didn't know if something bad was going to happen. That, after all, had been the point.

"Do better. There won't be a next time. You can go." You commanded respect when you spoke.

The mayor left quickly. And then it was time for the next one.

The majority of information given that day was old. Rumors about this and that all turned out to be worthless. You needed information about the raids the police were planning. It frustrated you. You were at your best when chaos ensued. There was too much boredom when everything was running smoothly.

The day went on...as normal. It was early afternoon and J hadn't showed up. It wasn't out of the ordinary for him to not be seen at the warhouse for a couple days. He knew his criminal enterprise was in competent hands. His absence supported that belief, making you gloat inside.

It was nearly 6pm when you heard his Lamborghini. The sound was unmistakable. You scalded yourself silently when you realized how excited you were that he was here. For fuck sakes, what is wrong with you. Get. Your. Shit. Together. You tried to not pay J any attention as he walked in and just continued to clean your gun. You maintained your casual mannerism that you always had around him.

"Ha...HA...Ha.."

You looked up immediately, like most did, when you heard the laugh. He was talking to Mo and you could tell J was amused by something he had said. They were a couple of hundred feet behind you so you couldn't hear a word. You turned back around in your chair and went back to work on your gun.

"Everybody. Meeting." Mo said loudy getting the attention of the guys.

You looked back behind you. Mo and the boss were walking toward the table you were at. You sit up nice and straight and started to rebuild your gun, in order to get the mess out of the way. A few of the guys were already sitting down; Mo grabbed the chair beside you. You looked to the end of the table to see if J was sitting in his normal place. He wasn't there yet. Then you felt someone behind you.

You knew who it was, you could smell his cologne. J had walked up behind you and hung his dark gray jacket on the back of your chair. You quickly glaced up but he wasn't looking at you.

Instead he was looking at the other crew members.

"Lookie here, ha-ha. My soldiers." J said looking the table over. He then rested his hands on your shoulders.

"And you..." He squeezed your shoulders very noticeably.

"My best." He moved from behind you, to beside you, sliding one hand from your shoulder to the nape of your neck. He left it there.

You didn't do anything. You cooly kept your composure. In fact you had finished reassembly your gun, so you loudly slam the clip into it. And placed back into your holster.

Then asking, "Something on your mind boss?"

"Something. oh yes." His smile slowly left his face as he lend against the table, placing both of his hands down flat.

"I wanna kill some people tonight." He grinned. "You wanna help me...Kiiillll some people?" J looked around at each person at the table. And mimicked shooting a gun with his fingers.

"Ha-HA." He flashed a silver grin, "that's a yes." "Who, boss?" One of the guys spoke up.

He pulled out a folded news paper he had tucked into the back of his pants and threw it on the table. As soon as you saw the paper you knew immediately who he wanted dead. The heading read Gotham Criminal Weapon's Bust. The raid had went down a few nights ago and some how no one had gotten wind of it prior.

J took one finger and sit it down on the newspaper.

"They all have to go." He cracked his neck as he spoke. "I want ever cop who took part in this dead. I don't care if all they did was help unload the weapons at the station. Kill'em." No one said anything for a few seconds.

"What are you waiting for? GOOO!" He hit the table hard in his anger.

Most of them jumped up and scrambled. You casually stood up and watched them go. Mo also stood and was waiting to hear more orders from you or the boss.

J still had his hands on the table from hitting it. His head was down and he was breathing heavy. You spoke to Mo quietly.

"Call Sarah at City Hall and tell her you need a list of every cop who worked on the raid last Sunday night."

Mo nodded and walked off.

" You tell her she's got an hour unless she wants a visit from me." You added before Mo got to far away.

J had took a seat. You couldn't help but notice how nice he looked. He was wearing dark maroon pants. His crisp white dress shirt left unbutton, over which he wore a tight black vest. You even noticed the maroon buttons on the vest as you looked him over intensely.

Your attention was grabbed by the sound of J's phone ringing. He had left it in his coat. It was still drapped over the chair you had been sitting in. He was a few chairs down, so you grabbed his coat and started to hand it to him.

He waved you off, "Deal with it."

You fished his phone out of the inside pocket of his jacket and answered it. As you questioned some of the information being given, you looked over to J and mimiced writing in the air.

"Pen." He announced loudly.

Almost immediately one of the henchmen tossed you a pen from across the room. You grabbed the newspaper on the table and started to write. You were completely leaned over the table as you wrote, your body stretched out. Unnoticed by you, J was eyeballing your body.

You hung up then ripped part of the newspaper off. Still leaning over the table you looked over to J and saw that he had his head tilted to the side and was looking at you. This made you immediately stand up. You were embarrassed but excited at the same time. You could flirt with the best of them but you had never had the need or want to flirt with the boss...until now.

You held out his phone in one hand and the piece of newspaper in the other. Teasing him with a choice of the two.

"Guess what I have?" You said waving the piece of paper.

"You'll really, really like it." You said it slow emphasizing the last 'really like it.'

He smiled, saying nothing. Standing up he walked toward you, making sure to get extremely close to you. He grabbed your wrist and held your hand still as he pulled the piece of paper out of your hand. He didn't let go of you. Giving your arm a little tug he pulled you in closer.

"Shit!" You jumped. His cell phone started ringing in your other hand and it surprised the hell out of you. You laughed nervously.

J still hadn't released your wrist. You offered him his ringing phone. He took it from you and answered it. As he talked he stared at you. You stared back.

Suddenly he let go of your wrist and looked at the paper. He started calling out the numbers you had written down on it. They were account numbers. It was no secret that a lot of money laundering went on.

As he continued to talk you noticed Mo standing off the side. He was far enough away to give you and the boss privacy. He gave you a WTF look. You knew Mo well enough that you were able to read his expression. He wasn't stupid. He saw what had been going on over the pass few days. Maybe he didn't know to what extent but he had definitely noticed the uncharacteristic flirting going on between J and widened your eyes at Mo, giving him a 'shut up' look.

You no longer heard J talking so you turned back to him. He had pulled out a burgundy Zippo and was burning the piece of paper. Glancing back over to Mo you nodded for him to walk over.

He had a list of names and handed them to you.

"Good girl." You said as you looked down at the name of cops that Sarah had managed to get a hold to.

You handed it to J.

"Look at the first name." You pointed out.

It was Michael Akins, one of Gordon's guys and rumoured next in line to be commissioner. J handed the list back to Mo.

"Take care of them." He told Mo. "But I need to have a chat with Mister Akins."

J grabbed his jacket and tossed it over his shoulder. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of car keys and dangled them on one finger, offering them to you as he smiled. You took them and headed toward his car.

* * *

The car rolled out of the city. The muffled sound of Akins moving around in the trunk could be heard from time to time. It didn't take nearly the effort you through it would for you and the boss to get your hands on him. In fact, you had been tipped off that he was eating at a local restaurant with his family. So J and you literally walked in and took him. Of course, a scene was made.

What's the fun in not scaring people?

It was a lot darker away from the city lights. There was a soft purplish glow inside the car. Allowing you to see everything. J had made himself comfortable. He stretched his arm out over the top of the seats. Letting his hand rest near the your neck. He was slightly turned in his seat facing you. His other arm rested on the door.

You knew he was staring at you off and on. You could feel it. For a long time you purposefully didn't look in his direction. You were pretty sure that he was trying to make you a little uncomfortable. Finally you quickly shot him a quick glance. He was looking out the windshield.

You looked back at the road and waited a while before looking at him again. This time he saw you. He smiled and brought his right hand up to his head and ran it over his hair. He adjusted his seating position so he turned facing you even more. You glanced back to him and then back to the road and then back to him.

"You know what I'm thinking?" His voice was raspy but sexy.

You glanced to him then back to the road.

J let out a slight growl as he leaned in close to you; keeping his arm on the back of your seat.

"I think." He brushed the side of your neck with the back of his hand.

"After we deal with Mister...Akins. I'm going fuck you again." He said it with no hesitation.

You mouthed, "Fuuucckk." You were so shocked and turned on by what had just came out of his mouth it was the only reaction you could muster.

"Ooh. Haha." J was amused but still being overly sexual in his manipulation. He growled,

"Someone likes that. Don't they?"

"Well." He brought his other hand up to your chest and unbuttoned the top button on your vest.

"If." He unbuttoned the second one.

"You." Then the third.

"Don't." He undid the last button and slipped his hand inside the vest opening it up.

Your breathing was extremely heavy.

"Tell." He moved to your shirt button and undid it.

"I." Again he unbuttoned another one.

"Won't." He smirked as he went on and unbuttoned two more. Making it so your chest was exposed.

You were having a hard time concentrating on the driving. He was breathing heavy, he was ready to pounce. J reached inside your open shirt. You could feel his hand lightly brush over your skin teasing you. You had to remind yourself to keep your eyes open and on the road.

You didn't wear much jewelry only a necklace that you kept tucked under your shirt. J had taken hold of it and lifted up. He gazed at it for a long time.

"Hey." You spoke quietly. "Hey."

You broke his attention on the necklace and he looked at you.

"We're here." You nodded ahead.

The car was stopped in front of a huge metal gate. The fence was so over grown with vines it blocked the view to the other side. J carefully placed the necklace back against your chest. You knew he must have recognize it and remembered how much it meant to you.

He said nothing. Only gesturing toward the gate. You stepped out of the car and J climbed over into the driver's seat. After cutting the lock off of the gate, he drove through and stopped to pick you back up. You glanced down at your shirt remembering that it was wide open. Shit. You thought to yourself.

You opened the trunk and threw the bolt cutters in. They hit Akins, who was tied and gagged. He moaned out of pain. You quickly buttoned your shirt up, leaving your vest open. You winked at Akins when you were done and slammed the trunk close.

Walking to the passenger side you went for the door handle. J took off and then slammed on brakes a few feet away. You rolled your eyes. You stood there refusing to walk to the car. After a while J slowly backed the car and rolled down the window. You leaned down and looked at him.

"You're a real asshole." You said. "Who does that?"

"HA...ha" The boss had obviously found it quite entertaining. "Oh, come on. Get in for daddy." You opened the door and got in.

"Damn fool." You teased while shutting the door.

He laughed as he hit the gas. The car sped down the dirt road, leaving a cloud of dust. J had the laugh, that most knew and feared. But he also had a laugh; one that most never knew existed. A less intimidating and more genuine laugh. It still reassembled the other laugh but at the same time didn't. You knew the difference between the two very well.

As the car slowed down you could see old abandon buildings. Wayne Enterprises could be seen on one of them. The fate light of the city could be seen in the distance. It was so quite. A good place for doing bad things.

Akins struggled as J and you pulled him out of the trunk. He was a big man and it took both of you to drag him across the ground into one of the decrepit buildings. He continued to tug and pull at the zip ties holding his hands and feet together. He tried to headbutt you causing you the pull out your gun and place it under his chin. He remained still. Using duct tape around his chest, feet and hands you made sure he was secured to the chair.

"Listen." You were standing in front of Akins.

"Hey!" You lightly slapped his face to get his attention , "I said listen. You're going to keep quiet and listen to what Mister J has to say."

You started taking the gag off of him, "Understand?" He purposely ignored you.

You grabbed his hair and pushed his head back making sure he was looking at you, "I said. Do. You. Understand? It's that or we'll just cut your tongue out and let you bleed to death. Your choice."

Akins struggled to say "okay" through the gag and just nodded 'yes'. You removed the gag very forcibly. He moved his month trying to work the soreness out of his jaw. He looked at J who was now sitting on top of a table. His elbows were on his knees and his hands together. His head was slightly down looking at the ground. He said nothing for a long time, creating tension.

Akins looked to you and started to speak. You quickly put your finger to your lips and went "shhh." Then pointed to the boss. He lifted his head was staring at Akins.

"Rumor has it Mister Akins... that you will be the next police commissioner of Gotham. After Gordon steps down, of course." J jumped up off the table and was walking toward Akins. "I think...we could benefit each other. I propose an open line of communication." Akins only shook his head no. He wasn't taking part in any criminal activity.

"Mister. Michael. Akins. You have a beautiful wife. Garselle, I believe." He paused and waited for Akins to confirm.

Akins was clearly upset. "Please don't...please don't hurt her."

"Oh, Im not gonna hurt to her." His silver grin was sinister. "But some of my men, they like pretty girls." J was wide-eyed as he watched Akins cringe with despair and anger.

Akins was in conflict with himself. Garselle had told him to never, under any circumstance, choose her over keeping the people of Gotham safe. He started shaking his head no.

"She wouldn't want me to give into scum like you." He was trying to be brave.

J snapped his fingers. You handed him your phone. He looked down at it and started to stroll through some pictures.

"Oh, she's a pretty one," he said. "Looks like they're having fun."

He held up the phone, showing Akins the picture. His wife was half naked and clearly had been ruffed up. Still Akins shook his head no. J strolled to the next photo. It was her being raped. One guy was holding her down. Another was between her legs, with pants half off, clearly penetrating her.

"Oh, Garselle. No. No, no." Akins was crushed.

J continued to flip through the photos. They got extremely worse, showing all three men taking turns with her. She was being hit and kicked around. By the time he had gotten to the last one Akins was no long looking at them. His eyes were closed and his head was down.

"Lets hope they used protection." J laughed.

"Look. She's still alive right now. But that depends on you." J's tone was serious. "I'm offering you and your family immunity and money. You only have to...be my friend." He gave his devilish silver grin.

Akins did nothing. He kept his head down. Tears were still rolling down his face. J circled him a few times before walking over to you. He handed you your phone back and watched as you slipped it into your pocket. He noticed that your shirt was buttoned back up and poked one of the closed buttons. He smirked and squinted at you playfully as he grabbed either side of your open vest and pulled you close.

So close, in fact, your face was almost buried into his neck. J could feel your breathe against his skin. It was rapid. He leaned his head down and put his cheek on your cheek. His mouth was to your ear. You could hear him breathing. He gave a soft growl as he rested his hands on your hips.

He whispered, "Look at me."

You did. You were face to face with him. He started to kiss you but stopped. His lips were parted, the same as yours. You were longing for it and he could tell. He craved control and he was enjoying not giving you what you wanted. He was teasing you. He placed his lips against yours only without kissing you. You closed your eyes out of anticipation.

"Is this what you want?" You could feel his lips and every word they formed against yours.

You felt elated, your heart was racing. You moved slightly and he tightened his embrace around your waist, making sure you were right where he wanted you. You kept your eyes closed as you slowly started to nod yes.

"You sick fucks." Akins spoke. "How can anyone who's done what you have. Stand there and rrh, mmph, uhn."

J started to gag him again before he could finish.

"Now that you're ready to talk, do you have an answer for my proposal? Just nod, yes or no, Mister Akins." J gave him few seconds and Akins just stared at him.

He whispered into his ear, "So that's a no?"

J reached into his coat. Akins stared wildly believing that J was about to pull out his gun. Instead he pulled out his calling card, literally. A joker card was in between his two fingers. Relief could be seen on Akins face as J slowly slipped the card into his shirt pocket.

"We're going give you a few days to think about your answer, Mister Akins." J patted Akins pocket, "That's in case someone finds you before we come back. I will expect to hear from you." Akins immediately started panicking, trying to wrestle free from his restrain. His struggle was pointless. J laughed. He continued to laugh as the two of you walked out of the room and closed the door. You could hear him moan and scream through his gag. By the time the boss and you were outside Mr. Akins could no longer be heard.

The night air was comfortable. The wind blew slightly as J and you walked back to the car. You noticed that you could hear insects, something that never happened in the city. You couldn't help but look up at the stars. They were pretty spectacular out here in the middle of nowhere. Then your eyes fell on him.

He was in front of you walking casually. It was hard to tell the color of his hair and skin. For a split second he reminded you so much of the teenage boy you'd first met it gave you incredible deja vu. It creeped you out for a second. Then, almost on cue, the full moon popped out from behind a cloud. His pale skin almost glowed in the moonlight. His crimson lips were darker than normal. This was the charismatic and attractive man you had grown so accustomed to.

J took his jacket off and tossed it onto the car. He leaned up against the car and took his phone out. He curled his lips when he looked at it. He did nothing and threw it into the car. Then he walked up to you. He grabbed your head, putting his forehead against your forehead. He was panting heavily as he spoke.

"Let's get out of here..." He lifted his head.

"Alright." You spoke softly.

You picked up his jacket to moved it out of your seat. At the same time you couldn't help but notice his phone in the floor. You avoided stepping on it and pick it up after getting in. Your plan had been to simply put it into his jacket for safe keeping but you couldn't help but look down at it before you did so. There were numerous missed text from Harley. You felt nothing about it. No feelings of guilt. In the jacket pocket the phone went and that was that.

Nothing was said between the two of you as he drove back to the city. There was really no need for speaking. You were unaware of it but there was something sexy about you. There was an allure to your silent manner. The fact that not only did others fear, but respect, you made J crave your loyalty. He also knew how ruthless you were and he was drawn to it. There was also a thrill of being the only person who could cross so many lines with you and not meet any coincidence.

Once back in the city you realized that he was taking you home. The thought of whether or not he would come in was quickly put to rest. He turned the car off as soon as he pulled up in front of the house. No time was wasted getting out of the car. He stood incredibly close to you as you unlocked the door. You could feel him press his body against yours. Before pushing the door open, you turned your head and looked at him. He suddenly grabbed you and very violently found his way under your clothes to grope you. You let the pleasure of his touch come over you. You wanted him to touch, explore every part of your body. His hand found its way between your thighs causing you to gasp with pleasure.

You were pinned between him and the front door. Anyone looking could see you with the Clown Prince of Gotham and that possibility turned you on considerably. You could feel his hard dick as you rubbed your ass against him. Reaching behind, you rubbed his dick. He gave a soft moan and seized your throat with his free hand. You loved it. Feeling him tightening his grip caused you to sigh out of pleasure. Maybe he could tell how much you were enjoying yourself or maybe not, but he stopped completely. You turned around to look at him.

Suddenly you found yourself, with both hands, holding his face as you kissed him. To your surprise he was kissing you back. You felt his tongue slip into your mouth and you gave it a slight suck. He returned the gesture by kissing you harder. You push up against his body, touching as much of him as you could.

The kiss ended and you found yourself nose to nose with him. He had placed his hands against the door, on either side of you, keeping you pinned between him and the door. You still cradled his face. Your instinct was to pull your hands away. No matter how much this behavior had been provoked by J and seemed welcomed, you still exercised caution. But he had kissed you back. You just couldn't tell if it was intimacy or something else. Regardless of what anyone may have assumed, you and him had never shared a kiss before.

Then something dawned on you. It was a revelation that until now, until right that very second, hadn't crossed your mind. You knew him. You actually knew him. Regardless of how intimidating, cruel, savage or powerful he had become over the years; you had managed to remained alive after so many came and went. Why? He and you were the same. You knew his likes and dislikes. You knew where his limit of toleration could and couldn't be crossed. You were the closest thing to a friend he'd ever had.

All your inhibitions melted away. You gave him a smile and opened the door. You walked in and waited for him to follow then locked up. He knew his way around. He was still familiar with the house. Glancing around he studied the place, making sure all was well. You watched him as you made your way to the stairs and started up them.

By the time he walked into the bedroom you were taking off your last piece of clothing. He stopped and watched. You slowly walked up to him, allowing him to admire every inch of your body from head to toe. He was a predator watching it's prey; breathing heavily. You unbuttoned his vest revealing his already unbuttoned shirt. You pushed open his shirt while touching his chest. Moving around him you took hold of his shoulder holster and pulled it off him. Instead of tossing it aside you slipped it on, making it the only item you were wearing. You paraded yourself in front of him hoping he'd find it sexy.

J immediately scooped you up and carried you to the bed. He carelessly tossed you down and crawled between your legs. He kissed you roughly but passionately. He stopped and peeled off his vest and then shirt. You reached up of touched his tattooed six pack. Letting your hand move up his chest you grabbed the gold chains around his neck and forcibly pulled him to you. He tried to kiss you but you bit at his lip playfully causing him to growl.

He grabbed your legs and adjusted you where he wanted you. His hard throbbing cock was exposed as he slipped his pants down pass his slender hips. He teased you with the tip of his dick before thrusting it into you with one smooth stroke. A wave of lust hit you. Feeling his dick deep in you made you want him, all of him, in a way you had never felt before. Your fingers tangled in his hair and you pulled it hard as he started to fuck you. His rhythm was slower than last time but still vicious. It drove you mad. He was breathing into your ear and kissing your neck from time to time. You pumped your hips against his. You couldn't help digging your nails into his skin.

After a while he pushed himself up onto his knees. He wanted to watch you while he continued to fuck you. You started to touch yourself just for his pleasure. He couldn't take his eye off of you. His steady speed started to slow and he began fucking you with long sensual strokes. Pulling his dick out, almost all the way. He'd wait and make you start begging for his dick before slowly thrusting back into you. Your back would arch when he pushed as deep as possible. He was grunting with every pump of his hips.

You felt the cold of his chains touch your body as he leaned back down to you. He stopped briefly, leaving his dick in you. You were moving your hips toward him, begging for more. He grabbed your butt and lifted you; readjusting your hips for better penetration. His rhythm was perfect as he stared to fuck you again. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was lewd but affectionate with you. You found yourself wrapping your arms around his neck and shoulders. His messy green hair was in his eyes so you pushed it out of the way. The two of you made eye contact. He gave you a kiss full of fury and desire. You were out of breathe by the end of it.

You instigated him to roll onto his back. Taking you with him. Pushing yourself up you stretched your body and adjusted yourself onto his dick. He moaned with enjoyment. He let his hand explore your body, grabbing your hips, squeezing your ass. Perched on top of him you repeatedly rolled your hips. Smooth and steady, never missing a beat. Your skill for riding a dick was quite paramount. He could no longer keep his attention on you. His head was tilted back and his eyes were closed.

"I'm close, slow down." He moaned.

You smiled and gave an extra hard thrust. This made him grab hold of you tightly and lift you enough to stop your hips from moving. He growled as he flipped you over onto your back again.

"I told you." He was kissing your neck. "You're going to make me cum..." He moved down your body and bit at your nipple, "... to fast."

It surprised you that he was actually an attentive lover. He teased you by flicking his tongue across your nipple; making you arch your back as you snickered a little. Next he wrapped his mouth around your nipple and sucked. It felt good. He continued to move down, kissing your navel. His hands moved down and took hold of your thighs, spreading them. He slowly licked, kissed, sucked and fingered you. You were lost between bliss and excitement as you climaxed. Your whole body tensed up as you grabbed the bed sheets. Then it was over. You felt dizzy for a moment due too many endorphins.

Finally, you lifted your head and looked down at him. His head was rested on your thigh and he was watching you. His pale skin against you made you look dark in comparison. You put your head back down on the bed. You felt movement and watched as J stood up. He grabbed one of your legs and pulled you toward the edge of the bed. You giggled as he dragged you. He was incredibly rougher, taking your legs and lifting them high to his chest as he slammed his engorged cock into you. You were still sensitive causing you to pull away a little bit. He dropped one of your legs and grasped your neck tightly. He no longer cared about your pleasure. With a few more brutal thrust, he busted his load.

He didn't move at first. But when he did, he was more delicate with you. Your leg was still rested against his chest as he caressed it then carefully placed it down. You looked up at him as you laid on the bed. He reached his hand out and you took it. He pulled you up so you were sitting up on the edge of the bed. He leaned over and kissed you on the top of your head before walking into the bathroom.


	5. Somethings We Remember, Some We Forget1

5 weeks later...

You looked around at each crew member. The stupid ones were talking and laughing. Mo and Jonny were relaxed but focused. They were checking their guns. You glanced over to J, who was loading bullets into extra clips. He handed you two clips when he was done. You slid them into the last open clip pockets on your shoulder holster where your Kimber Custom .45 was safely tucked away. In case of something nasty, a backup desert eagle .50 cal was hanging off your hip.

Everyone knew the plan and what was expected of them once the van got past the second check point. The guards at the checkpoints had been paid off or forced into helping. Once inside, it was safe to assume that most of the prison guards would back down out of self preservation. The others, well, god help them.

Unfortunately, for them, four guys from the crew had gotten locked up months ago. Up until now, like most of J's guys who got arrested kept their heads down and mouths shut. Months of pressure from the D.A. had caused all four guys to cut a deal for shorter prison times in exchange they would help provide information to put the boss away. Every options had been exhausted in order to kill these guys but the D.A. had them protected well. J's hand had been forced. So the decision was made to break into Blackgate prison and eliminate the problem.

The check points went as planned, no issues getting through. Everyone was ready to roll. Harley and Mo were in the front of the van. Harley was dressed conservatively and had make up on to look normal. They job was to go in as visitors. Once they got past the visitors check point, they would take care of the few guards up front. The rest of the crew would then be free to just walk into the prison.

You put in your earbuds and waited. The music focused you. It was something you had done as long as you could remember. Twenty minutes passed before the all clear came. You watched as each crew member jumped out. Shots were fried the second the crew entered. Harley and Mo had killed the check point and front desk guards like planned. Jonny lead a few of the guys ahead everyone else, clearing out the place with and Mo stayed back to cover J and Harley.

As soon as a guard snuck up from behind or showed up from an unexpected place you would shoot them. Your music still blasted in your ear. It put you in an untouchable zone of violence. Everything seemed to slow down just a little for you. You didn't have to hear, you could feel when someone was behind you or if someone was about to shoot. It was one of the things that made you so good at being so 'bad'. Even as a child, your father would tell you stories that certain family members had been blessed with the burden of protecting the family. Maybe it wasn't just silly stories. You cleared your head as you rounded the corner, some of the men were blowing a lock.

Looking behind you could see Harley bashing a guard with her baseball bat and laughing. J was casually walking over the lifeless bodies, paying no attention to any of it. The prisoners, locked in cells, were going crazy. Screaming and yelling. One reached out and grabbed at the boss. You simply walked up and put a bullet in his head.

Making it to solitary confinement where the four informants were being kept , everyone entered.

"Get'em open!" You ordered, referencing to the locked doors of each cell.

Each door was steal with only a tiny opening. The men started looking for keys on the bodies of the dead guards.

"Blow them if you have too! Hurry." You were impatient.

A couple of the guys stood watch while the others started to wiring explosives to the doors. The first door blew opened. A wave of bullets greeted the first rat. As did the second and third rat. Harley came skipping in with a set of keys, having found them and unlocked the fourth door. She flirted with the guy for a few second before bashing him with her bat. J walked in and laughed. You couldn't, hear due to your music. But you knew his mannerisms and could tell what was he was toiling with him. The guy laid half dead on the floor as J shot.

Everyone started moving to the exit.

You passed one of the doors in the solitary confinement wing when you stopped and stared at it. You immediately removed your earbuds and froze for a second.

"Harley!" You yelled but didn't take your eyes off the name on the door.

She popped her head back threw the door leading out, "Yeah?"

"The keys." You spoke in a shocked voice.

Harley stood there. "Bring them now!" You screamed.

"We got to go. Harley, now!" Jonny yelled following closely behind Mr. J.

"Open this door." You were calm.

J wasn't the kind of man to stick around and risk getting arrested or killed. He was still making his way to safety. Harley clearly wanted to go with him, looking at him then back to you.

You kicked the door, "Open the door."

She yelled, "Catch!" And threw the keys to you, then turned and took off after J, along with most of the others.

Mo and one other guys stayed behind with you. You quickly open the door. The man sitting in the cell didn't move. He was an old man. He looked stocked and confused for only a moment. You walked in calmly and stared at him, he stared back.

"You're suppose to be dead." You showed no emotion.

The man didn't speak. After studying your face, he spit at you. You slowly put your gun to his head. He made no expression of fear, no pled for his life.

As he spoke, he sounded truly discussed, "You're a fucking trader. A fucking disgrace to your whole fam..."

You pulled the trigger before he could finish. His body fell back. Staring down at him you felt satisfaction and rage.

"Come on. We gotta get out of here." Mo was pulling at your arm.

You turned and started running. More guards were showing up. Mo fortunately had a AKM, that he happily started using. In the chaos the other goon was shot. You were in a daze. Your mind was still thinking about the man in the cell. Suddenly you stopped running and placed your earbuds back in.

Your head became clear. Everything melted away and you were a killing machine. It took everything you and Mo had but you made your way back to the parking lot.

Mo fired a few shots into the air, "Goddamnit!" He was angry. "They're gone."

He was panicking, "They're fucking gone."

They were. You looked around the parking lot scanning for an answer. Your music still playing. You headed back in the prison. There were a few people huddle in the corner of the waiting area.

You pointed your gun at them.

"Who's got a car?" You popped a shot off near them to insight fear and motivation.

One young women stood up and tried handed you her keys. You grabbed her arm and pulled her to the parking lot.

"Where's your car?" She was hesitant and scared.

"Oh for fuck sakes." You point the gun right at her. "Show. Me. Your. Car."

Mo grabbed her and the three of you ran over to the vehicle she pointed at. The keys opened the car. Mo hoped in and started the car. You were half way in the car when you looked at the girl.

"Thanks." Then you shot her in the gut, without any remorse.

After a terrifying car ride Mo finally slowed down; Convinced that the two of you had made it to safety without being followed or chased by cops. He started laughing. You let out a soft laugh too. But you felt a sharp pain in your side. Your adrenaline was wearing off. You looked down and saw blood. Scrambling to find where the blood was coming from and how bad it was, you started feeling your body. Mo looked over to see what you were doing.

"Oh Shit. That's a lot of blood. " He sounded anxious.

You could feel the pain under your Kevlar vest and started the peel out of it. The pain hit you hard as you stretched your arms to remove the vest. You grabbed at the gunshot wound.

"Fuck, a bullet got through." You lifted your hand and looked at the blood.

You placed your hand back on top of the wound and applied pressure. As you realized just how must blood you had lost, you started to feel lightheaded.

"Oh Christ." You were seeing more blood. The bleeding wasn't slowing. Grabbing anything you could find in the car you tried to stop the bleeding.

You were calm. "You gotta call the doc and tell him we're on the way."

You could hear Mo's voice on the phone but you couldn't make out what he was saying. It sounded like he was talking in slow motion. Everything outside of the car was moving slow and seemed to burr together. You looked down and tried to put your hand over your wound but couldn't manage to make your hand and arm do what you wanted. Then suddenly, it was like time started to speed up. Someone was slapping your face and talking.

"Wake up. Can you hear me? Y/n!" Mo was slapping and trying to get you to respond.

You tried to tell Mo that, yes, you could hear him but all that came out was incohesive gibberish. When he pulled you out of the car, the pain that shot through your body was overwhelming. You passed out cold.

 _You couldn't see anything but light. You heard a voice you knew, it was J's voice. As everything came into focus you saw him. You recognize him immediately, regardless of the fact that he didn't have pale skin or green hair. He was a young man, the young man you were knew before he became Joker, he was Jack. A smile came across your face as you watched his lips move. His hands moved as he spoke. His mannerisms were eccentric. You let your eyes drift slowly over him. Everything seemed like a dream to you._

 _You looked down and noticed your family's crest tattooed didn't have the smiley face graffiti. Looking at your right arm you could see it was bare. You looked and didn't see any of your other tattoos. You were confused at first. It was a memory but you were having a hard time deciphering between the memory and what was real._

 _"Will you help us?" He stared at you. "Will you help...me?"_

 _You blushed at him, "it'll be Wednesday morning when they move the money and whatever else the boats are delivering." You glanced out over the street from the small balcony you were on. "The cops they keep on-the-take won't be there, but they'll be on call if anything goes wrong. As long as the right cops show up, the family doesn't get in trouble, his money is safe and his enemies go to jail."_

 _"Do you know which cops he's got on the payroll?" He was being so charismatic._

 _"Of course." Your mood turned from pleasant to worrisome. "It's not safe for me anymore." You looked at Jack. He tilted his head to one side._

 _"When it's time, I will let you know." He flashed a quick fake smile._

 _"Then you can take care your family. Trust me." He was demanding complete faith._

 _"You trust me, don't you?" He became hateful and manipulative. "You better._ "

Suddenly it was different 'memory'.

 _"Your youngest is the rat, Sal. I'm telling you. The kids' been seen all over the place with that new crew that's been causing so much trouble for us." Your uncle was pleading with your father._

 _You were listening to your uncle and father talk about you, like you weren't there. You quietly sat in front of your father's desk._

 _"I know you don't won't to hear it. But how else are they getting fed the information?" Your uncle looked at you as he spoke._

 _"I've heard enough." Your father was short and snappy with his answer._

 _"Sal. I hate this too. But if we don't do something about this now, it's going to get messy..." Your uncle pleaded with your father._

 _"We move forward with the plans. I've talked to the other bosses. I'll deal with this problem..."_ _Your father pointed to your uncle, "...my way. Understand?"_

 _Your uncle gave you the nastiest look and left. You only sit there as your father started screaming. You showed no emotion to the anger he was projecting on you._

 _"You can't go around acting like one of these...like one of these common criminals . Killing in public, robbing banks. Christ_ _, robbing your our banks! You're a Maroni! Act like one!" He was red in the face._

 _"We are above the street trash you've taken a liking to." He scored you._

 _You were agitated by his comment and shifted in your chair. He saw that it bothered you and he changed his tone._

 _"What is it that this guy is offering you that you don't already have? Your name provides respect and power. It can't be money." He paused for a moment, "Is it him? Do you think he loves you? He's only using_ _you."_

 _By this point you had straighten up in your chair. You were mad._

 _"You think I care about the money or your name. It's not about that." You leaned in closer to the desk._

 _"It's about freedom. Something you don't have. You've restrained yourself with this idea of how a..." You_ _laughed before finishing, "...how a respectable criminal should act and behave."_

 _He said nothing, only started._

 _You laughed again. "You honestly think you have power and respect. When you and the other families are too busy trying to share power, we will be actually running the city. It's too late for your kind."_

 _"I won't be part of this family any longer. Empires fall and it's time for this one to meet its fate." You smiled and sit back in your chair._

 _Your father looked sad._

 _"Do you realize the cost of what you're saying?" He sounded disappointed. "I can't trust you anymore. I didn't want to believe it. This isn't you I'm hearing, it's him. He's polluted your mind."_

 _You sat there, staring at him._

 _"If you were anyone else, you'd be dead already. Your uncle wants you dead. Do you know that? II've forbidden_ _him to touch you."_

 _It was the first time you'd ever heard him sound regretful. "He's not the only one who's demanded your life as retribution. You've managed to piss off a number of others."_

 _He was slouching in his chair. Clearly burdened with worry. He looked up at you and shook his head._

 _"Get in here." He spoke loudly._

 _Three guys came into the office. You looked around at them. And then back to your father. You gave him a look of hate._

 _"I'm sorry. I can't let you leave tonight. We're fixing this problem."_

 _You started to panic, "what have you done?"_

 _You started to get up but two of the men grabbed and pushed you back into the chair._

 _"If you do this, father. I will kill every last one of you."_

 _He looked at you sorrowful, "I hope you don't mean that. Your family is the only thing standing in the way of your death. I've gotten everyone to agree to overlook your lapse of judgement. Your life in exchange for eliminating him and..."_

 _You interrupted, "No, don't do this. It won't end well. It won't end well for any of us."_

 _You struggled to get up. The men removed all your weapons and took your phone. They had you by the arms. Your father nodded and the men proceeded to drag you out of the room._

 _You laughed, giving your father one last warning. "If I ever see you again, it'll be at the end of a gun barrel."_

 _You were locked in a small room that didn't have any windows. You knew the room well. There were two more just like it, nicknamed the killing rooms because most people didn't leave them alive_.

Your eyes opened long enough to see Mo, the doctor, and the back of someone else. You tried to move but the pain hit you again. Your eyes closed as you wenced.

You heard voices. Someone was talking to you and squeezing your arm. It felt like ice water had injected put into your vein. You blinked your eyes open and shut a few times. Everything was moving in slow motion again. Suddenly the doctor came into view as he leaned over you. Moments later the talking you heard started to get incoherent, sounding only like noises. You felt very sleepy. You couldn't help but think about how good vanilla ice cream would be.

 _You woke with a gun in your face and a hand over your mouth. Immediately you made noise. The man standing over you hit you in the head knocking you out._

 _You could hear two men whispering as you woke up. Your head hurt. You tried to move but your feet and hands were bounded and your mouth was covered with tape._

 _"You said they'd all be out of town for the holidays." One of them angerily whispered._

 _"This is a bad idea. If the kid is here, everyone else maybe here too."_

 _"Look, the kid is already restrained. And if anyone else is here, we'll deal with it." The other guy sounded like he was in charge. "We have Jack with us tonight. He can crack that safe. We're doing this. Tonight. Understand?"_

 _Shanking his head, "No. No man. If they are here, we ain't leaving alive. This is Sal Marino and his family. We're dead. We're all dead." He was clearly panicking._

 _A third guy spoke up, "Calm down, Tony."_

 _"Don't use my name. They'll fucking here you."_

 _You thought to yourself, Tony. That piece of shit is trying to rob us. He thought we were all gone._

 _Oh, you're so dead._

 _The third guy walked over to the bed and looked down at you. To your surprise it was a very young man. He couldn't have been much older than 17 or 18. Making him only a year or two older than you. He was tall and slender. His hair was brown and in the dim light you could tell his eyes were crystal green. His smile was dazzling._

 _"Jack, what are you doing?" Tony spoke up._

 _He turned and smiled at the two men before turning back to you._

 _As he smiled as he spoke, "Is daddy or anybody else in the house?"_

 _You didn't respond. You squinted your eyes at him in angry. He rolled his eyes and pulled his gun out. He waved it seductively in your face as he sit down on the bed beside you._

 _"Again. Is your father here?" You shook your head no._

 _"Any other family?"_

 _Again you shook your head no._

 _"So, you didn't go with them?"_

 _This time you shook your head yes._

 _He stroked the top of your head as you answered. And continued to smile._

 _"Good but you're not here alone, are you? How many hired guns are in the house?" He held up 2 fingers. You shook no. Then 3, then 4, then 5. You shook your head yes._

 _"Five." He said looking to the other two men in the room._

 _"There you go, gentleman. Now let's get to work." He said very calmly._

 _"Now, you stay put." He said to you. He laughed quietly and walked out behind the other two men._

 _After a few minutes you heard shots and then a few more and finally a few more. Then nothing. You looked around the room hoping to see something to use to get out of the restraines. You noticed that men had broken into the house through your balcony door. You tried to squirm your way off the bed but your feet and hand were bound so tightly that you could do anything. An hour past before you heard anything else. The men had finally came back upstairs. They were talking in the hall about stealing jewelry and other items of value._

 _You could hear them throwing thing around, searching for stuff. One entered into your room and looking for stuff. The man walked over to the bed and looked down at you. It was Tony. He stared at you a while then pulled his gun out. He pointed it at you but was interrupted._

 _"Hey man, what are you doing?" It was the one guy who's name who hadn't heard._

 _"The kid saw our faces. It's got to be done." Tony said._

 _Jack walked into the room. Tony hesitated._

 _"I'll do it." Jack's voice was calm._

 _Tony glanced over to Jack and the other guy. Sweat was rolling down his face. He put his gun down._

 _"Yeah. Fine." He turned to Jack. "You do it then."_

 _Tony and the other guy quickly left the room. Jack walked over and looked down at you. He glanced at the door and back to you. He pulled out a knife. You wiggled. He laughed and quietly placed the knife on the nightstand. Then he pulled his gun out._

 _Panic was in your eyes. He leaned into your ear and whispered, "Do me a favor and make sure you let your father know it was Tony and Vinny. Now. Play dead."_

 _Putting his finger to his mouth, he mouthed 'shhh.' He placed the gun beside you and shot into the pillow. The shot left your ears ringing. He kept his finger over his mouth and smiled. Before turning he gave you a wink._

 _He disappeared out the door. You must have laid there another good 30 minutes before starting the slow process of getting the knife and then slowly cutting the restraints. Once out you made your way down and verified that all the men had been shot and killed before calling your father._

 _The phone rang._

 _"This better be good, y/n." Your father was an asshole._

 _"There was a break in. It was Tony and Vinny, Dad."_

You felt foggy. Your body was heavy. You didn't feel any pain. For a few minutes you laid very still just looking up at the ceiling. Your mind was sorting through the dreams and J, you rarely dreamed about him. Suddenly you grabbed for your side.

There were bandages covering your abdominal. You felt and pressed the area, causing yourself a lot of discomfort. Checking for blood, you saw none. You remembered the blood covering your hands in the car or at least you thought you did. You wanted you see how bad the injury was but made no effort to remove the bandages. You realized how dry your month was. Looking around you saw a cup of water and reached for it. You felt a sharp pain in your hand and looked down to see an IV.

You followed the tube with your eyes to the bag and realized it was hooked up to you. You looked at the needle in your hand for a long time. Studying how it penetrated your skin and vein. It dawned on you that you were doped up on something good. Your thoughts quickly turned to what happened back in the prison. It had been 10 years since the last time you had laid eyes on a Maroni. They should have all been dead. It wasn't long before you fell back asleep from the pain medicine.


	6. Somethings We Remember, Some We Forget2

_You remained locked up, in the basement of your own family's estate, with little to no idea of what was happening in the outside world. Your father had been to visit twice in four weeks. And that was only by your count, maybe it was longer, time moves funny when you're locked up. He wouldn't tell you anything. From the bits and pieces of information you'd over heard through the door; it was clear that their plan to take out Jack had gone horribly wrong. Your uncle came to "talk" a few days later. His talking was slapping you around and demanding to know if the Batman had any connections with Jack or his crew. It was just another piece of the puzzle for you. Not only had something gone wrong but batman had intervened at some point to make matters worse. Maybe there was a reason you were still in here. You didn't know whether your father was trying to keep you safe or keep himself safe by keeping you locked away._

 _Another two weeks went by and then everything changed as fast as it started. The sound of gun fire in the distance woke you up. Someone was raiding the Maroni Estate. As the gun shots got closer you found yourself oddly excited. Maybe it was the possibility of everything finally coming to an end. You had already prepared for the worse weeks ago, maybe today was the day. You could hear commotion outside the kill rooms. You jumped when you heard a sudden explosion._

 _Gun fire echoed in the room next to you. You stood up, preparing, when you heard people moving right outside your door. The blow from the small explosive, caused you quickly to move back against the wall and kneel down. You cowered from the explosion for only a few seconds before lifting your head to see what was happening. The smoke, dust and small debris floating in the air, made it hard to see and breath. You could hear the man before seeing them, as they ran in and pointed guns at you. You threw your hands up to show that you had no weapon and posed no threat to them. One of the men grabbed your head and looked at your face. He turned and walked out._

 _You heard him yelled, "Boss! In here. Look who it is."_

 _All the men quickly retreated out of the room. You looked up to see who would be saving or who would killing you today. A tall, slender figure entered the room. The light coming from the open door was bright compared to what you were use to, making it hard for you to see any details at first. Then you heard it. A laugh. You knew that laugh. Jack. You felt relief wash over you._

 _As your eyes focused on him, all you could do was stare. His skin was no longer a healthy peach color, he was pale white. His hair appeared to be dyed bright green. His lips were crimson red, maybe even red from lipstick. You couldn't look away. Your eyes widen as you watched him walk toward you. He squatted down in front of you. It was Jack, your eyes studied his face and eyes, yet it wasn't Jack. You looked into his eyes. They were the same but there was something different about them. A manic, wildness you had never seen before. You were fearful and didn't know how to react. A sense of anxiety replaced any hope._

 _"So," He looked around the room before fixing his eyes back on you. "Loooovve whatcha you've done with the place." He spoke cheerfully, with a 'new' rhythm._

 _"Personally, I'd went in a different direction, kid." A big smile croased his face._

 _You exhaled in relief. His sense of humor seemed intact and you fiund tgat comforting. However you still remained cautious of him and the situation. He reached for his gun and pulled it out eccentricitly, turning it around and offering it to you. You glanced down at it and then back to him._

 _"Well?" He nodded his head for you to take the gun._

 _You slowly wrapped your hand around it and took it from him. The cold metal felt good in your hand._

 _"Now." He stood up and stretched out his hand for you to take. You slowly placed your hand against his. He grabbed and pulled you to your feet._

 _"Go. Kill for me." He flamboyantly turned and presented the way out to you._

 _You shyly smiled. And walked out, so much was racing through your mind. Moving_ _through the house, everything seemed surreal._ _Family members and loyal gunmen, who you'd know from childhood, all laid dead. It was a massacre. You_ _didn't feel anything. The lack of emotion actually surprised you._

 _The men who were with Jack watched you, keeping a close eye._

 _"J, We've got them ready." One of the henchmen said to Jack._

 _You noticed he called him J instead of Jack. You watched and listened. The way the rest of the men interacted with him showed extreme respect or extreme fear of him. It's funny how those two things can make people act the same. This was a man fully in charge now, with nothing standing in his way. What happened? Clearly, something physical occurred to cause his appearance. And it even through Jack had always been a criminal with plans to 'rule the world', there a delirious psychopath boiling to tge surface._

 _"I have a gift for you." J was talking to you._

 _He motioned for you to follow him, leading you into your father's office. There, on the floor, was your father. He was on his knees, gagged and handcuffed. Your oldest brother, who was next in line, was also tied and gagged. Your eyes widen. You were overwhelmed. J walked behind your father and slapped his hands on his shoulders, then began to rub them. You father put up a struggle against his touch._

 _"Dad-dy dear-est. " He said it to him, leaning close to him._

 _"Aren't we all just a big happy family? Ha-HA." You watched as your father stared at you. His eyes pleaded for help._

 _"Now, here's what going to happen. Y/n here, is going to kill you and your son." J patted the son on the back._

 _"Thus proving...ceaseless loyalty..." He stretched his hand toward you._

 _"To me." His hand touched his chest as he looked right at you and smiled._

 _"I want your total allegiance." He said backing away from your father and brother, so you could shoot them._

 _He gave you a small bow as he presented them you._

 _You wanted this. You couldn't remember how many times you'd actually thought about this moment. Of course, it's harder doing it than thinking about it. You looked at your father, he was still staring at you. Your brother had his head down and eyes closed. Hate for them had been brewing for years._

 _You looked at J, "Where's my uncle? He's got to die also."_

 _J laughed loudly. "So vicious! I love it! See boys, that's why this one..."_

 _He was casually walking over to you, "This one's a keeper."_

 _"Boys! Go find him." He yelled, demanding his crew._

 _He cocked his head and lift one eyebrow in a are-you-happy-now kind of way, giving you a grin. You broke eye contact with J and took one step toward your family. Without hesitation you lifted your gun and shot your brother in the face. He fell forward. Your father closed his eyes and let out of moan of sadness for your brother. You pointed the gun at your father's head._

 _"I told you this would be at the end of a gun barrel." You pulled the trigger._

 _It was over._

 _You stood there and looked at the bodies bleed out. You felt nothing. Was this true hate? Feeling nothing for enemies._

 _Without looking up from the bodies you spoke to J, "It's all yours now. The money, the business, this house, the city."_

 _Finally you looked at him. You gave him nod._

 _You continued to explore the house, there was one person you needed to see. You made your way upstairs, entering a room that was decorated for a child. You scanned the room. When you saw the lifeless body of your youngest cousin it made your stomach knot. Being the only family member who you actually cared for; she was still young enough that the family hadn't corrupted her. Looking on you realized you harbored no ill feelings about her outcome, to your surprise. When it was all said and done, she was a Maroni and had to face the same fate as the rest of them: death._

 _Someone walked into the room, you turned your head to see whom it was. J stood there. You looked away from him, back to your cousin and put your hand on her cold forehead. You moved her hair out of her mouth. Her necklace was flipped up onto her face and you placed it back on her chest. When you were done, you stood. J, looking down at her little body, bent over. Showing no emotion he snapped the necklace free from her neck. Before handing it to you, he examined the necklace. The charm was her initials. After placing it in your hand, he took your hand and balled it up into a fist._

 _"Somethings we remember...some we forgot." His tone wasn't meant to be comforting but somehow it was just the same._

 _You smiled softly and slipped the necklace into your pocket for safe keeping. You had never known him to be so considerate, you found it oddly out of moment was broken._

 _"Boss, we found him. The uncle." One of the henchmen, entered the room. "But, there's a problem."_

 _So there the two of you and some of the guys stood, at the edge of the boat dock. A good 200 yards down the river a body was floating face down. It appeared to be your uncle. It was a portly man, his hair appeared ginger and he was wearing a nice suit._

 _"Use the..." You stopped when you saw the boat was gone. "Where's_ _the boat?" You asked._

 _The henchmen pointed across the river. It was floating near the shore where it appeared hung up on trees._

 _"A few of them tried to flee from us, using the boat. We got them." He sounded proud of himself._

 _"Is that him?" The guy asked you._

 _J interrupted, "Go. Get him."_

 _The guy looked confused, "We ain't got no boat, boss."_

 _J rolled his eyes and curled his lips over his teeth. "Unless." He shot the guy, point blank._

 _He waved his gun around as he looked at the rest of them, "Anyone else?"_

 _He ran his hand over his slicked back hair as he spoke. "Good. Now go fetch." He ordered_.

* * *

The sound of your cell phone snapped you out of your thoughts. You ignored the text, not even looking at your phone. Instead you glanced over at the wall clock, it was 230am. Ther was only one person who would be texting at this hour. You heard movement come from the bed and looked to see if the phone had woken Frost. He was only rolling over in his sleep. Turning to look back out the window, you took another swig of your whiskey. Gloom and worry had become a common emotional stand for you over these last couple of weeks.

You had been replaying that day at the prison, along with that day your family were killed, over and over in your head. The fact that your uncle had been alive this whole time left you angry, confused, embarrassed and frankly, with a ton of questions. Naturally, you wondered why or how your uncle had survived.

And it didnt help tonight that your somber mood was enhanced by the fact that you had slept with him and regreted already. You had never found yourself attracted to Jonny, unfortunately for you, he just happened to be at the right place, at the right time last night. Given your state of mind and the drinking, It could have just as easily been anyone. The truth was, there had only been one man on your mind and it wouldn't have matter who had been in your bed, you would have still been thinking about J.

You finally looked at your phone. It was the boss, just as you'd suspected. You had found yourself avoiding physical contact with him over the pass month. The two of you hadn't talked about how stupid a move it was for you to kill your uncle in the prison. So avoiding him and keeping your contact limited to text and phones, was a way to make sure he couldn't ask. However, it was getting to the point where you could no longer use your recovery as an excuse to avoid him.

You texted him back immediately. Another text came in from J. The two of you exchanged texts for the next 30 minutes, deciding what an course of action for a new business venture. It didn't help that the longer you texted to J and the more you drank, the more you wanted to see him. Because, honestly you hadn't enjoyed not keeping your distance from your Clown Prince.

Along with your other concerns, the other thing weighting on your mind: You couldn't get your last sexually interaction with J out of your head. It was always there, in the back of your mind. You turned and looked at Jonny again. You were disgusted with yourself. Suddenly, you wanted to just get the hell out of there, so you did. You quietly showered, got dress, and walked out the door. You didn't even bother leaving a note, he'd get the message. He was a 'smart' guy.

So there you were just walking. You took your gun, keys and what little bit of liquor that was left. You had forgotten your phone but you wouldnt miss it, never even noticing you had left it at home. Thety was quiet this time of morning. The people of the night were going to bed while everyone else hadn't woke up yet. More than a few city blocks later, you had managed to make it to the "Grin and Bare It". The club sign was off, making it lifeless, something rare for the boss' club. You continued to walk, passing the club. Another block down you passed a liquor store. Your bottle was empty and your buzz wasnt nearly strong enough, so you started to head into the store. But you stopped just short of going in, smiled to yourself and turned back around.

You fumbled through the keys on your key ring. After trying two keys you finally found the right one to open the door. You made sure to lock the door behind you. Walking in you found the place creepy. It wasn't that you hadn't been in the boss's club hundreds of times over again after or before hours. It was that you had never actually seen it completely empty and totally silent.

You slowly moved across the club to find the light switches, you hit one switch. The lights to the dance floor came on. You turned it back off and tried another switch. You continued to search for the bar lights.

"Shit!" Loud music blasted and you quickly turned it off.

"Fuck." You laughed, it had almost scared you sober.

Finally, you found the right switch and help yourself to a bottle of whiskey. There you sat. Alone at the bar in an empty club. You thought to yourself, how sad and chuckled. You promptly poured another shot.

After some time, you heard noise coming from the back. You reached for your gun and listened. It sounded like someone opening and closing doors. You waited before getting up, listening for anymore noise. Just as you started to relaxed you heard the click of someone pulling back the hammer of a gun. You quickly turned toward the sound, knocking the bottle of liquor to the floor in the process. You cringed but still managed to pointed your gun toward the sound. You froze waiting for someone to walk out.

Someone spoke, "You gonna pay for that bottle?"

You lowered your gun instantly and placed it on the bar as soon as you heard the voice.

"Christ, you scared me." You turned and placed your elbows on the bar as you said it.

J walked into the room.

He walked in with a bag of money and throwing it on the bar. He stopped and eyeballed you. So you took it apon yourself to answer a question that he hadnt even asked.

You held up your empty glass, "I'm drinking."

You laughed, "To get drunk."

"You've accomplished that goal, kid." He sat down beside you at the bar, leaving an open stool between the two of you.

"And what have you been doing?" You said it in a playful tone referring to the money.

"I just talked to you, what, like an hour or so ago...You make money fast." You smiled.

He didn't answer. Instead he stood up on the bar stools foot rest, leaned over the bar and grabbed the closest bottle of alcohol he could reach. Sitting back down, he slid over to the stool right beside you and took your glass. He poured himself a shot, drank it. Then he poured another one right away and downed it too.

He poured one more and offered it to you. You took it out of his hand and downed it.

"Good god." You made a terrible face and chills ran up your body.

"That's awful." You looked at the bottle. It was a cheap tequila.

J looked at the bottle, "Mmm, exquisite." He laughed.

He turned the bottle up and chugged for just a few seconds. The two of you sat there, it was quiet. A few minutes passed before you broke the silence.

"Did you know that he...um, my uncle was alive?" It just spewed out of your mouth. You couldn't stop it.

As soon as you said it J slammed the bottle down on the bar, rolled his eyes and put both elbows on the bar. He put his head in his hand and ran it through his hair. Then he jerked his head up.

"I knew it. I knew it. IIII..." He waved his finger at you. "...knew it."

"Frankly, im surprise you didnt ask me sooner." He was between annoyed and amused.

You didn't look at him, "Yes. Or no."

"No." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Consider the subject closed then." You reached for the bottle but he took it first.

You watched the muscles in his neck move as he swallowed. He licked his bottom lip after removing the bottle from his month. It made you lick your lip watching him. Your eyes moved down to his hands. His long slender fingers let go of the bottle as he placed it back down on the bar. Your train of thought had shifted quickly from your uncle to J and all the different ways you'd like to... _Stop it!_ You screamed at yourself. Nope. Your eyes traveled up his muscular forearm. The sleeves of his black dress shirt were rolled up to his elbows.

J sit back, relaxing in the bar chair. His shirt fell open to either side. You hadn't noticed it until now but his shirt was untucked and completely unbuttoned. You happily checked out his chest and tight stomach. Your eyes moved back up his body, to his face. He was watching you check him out. The alcohol in your system had managed to make you unaware that any subtly you possessed was being neglected. You let out a soft laugh after being caught.

You casually reached for the bottle and poured yourself a shot. You took a tiny sip of it. J was still watching you. He stretched out his arm and rested it on the back of your chair. You waited til he was done, settled comfortablely and sat back in your chair too, leaning toward him. His head was turned and slightly cocked to one side as he watched you. You returned his glaze. You used the hand holding the glass and pointed toward him as you held the shot glass near your mouth.

"This," You gestured with your finger at yourself and then to him. "Isn't going to end well for me. I know that."

You sat up, finished your shot and scooted yourself around so your whole body was facing J. He squinted his eyes at you and slightly curled his lips. From his reaction he was anticipating hearing something he didn't want to hear.

"But I don't care." The second it left your lips, you leaned in and kissed him hard, cradling his jawline in your hands. He didn't kiss you back. You let go and pulled away from him to gauge his reaction.

He didn't move from his relaxed pose. He stared back at you, so long that it made you uncomfortable. You glanced away, out of nervousness and that's when he made his move. He stood up, forceful enough that it caused his bar chair to slid back. He grabbed your arms and slung you around so you were facing him.

Leaning down, his lips fiercely pressed against yours, kissing you so hard and roughly that it frightened you. Naturally, you tried pulling away just a little, but he resisted by reaching for your neck, putting his hands on either side, holding your head in place. You grabbed both of his wrist, holding them as a reflex to his manhandling. He broke the kiss to take a quick breathe.

He stood up straight, keeping his hold around your neck. He pulled your head toward his lips. You had no choice but to stand on your tiptoes as he kissed you again. He sucked your tongue. It wasn't sweet or romantic, instead, it was mean and brutal to show dominance. He was in control and calling the shots, not you. Your grip tightened around his wrist as he ended the kiss by biting and dragging his teeth over your bottom lip.

He let go of your neck and moved one of his hands to your back of your head. J glared at you after grabbing a handful of hair and pulled your hair, making you tilt your head back. He was breathing heavy and let out a deep growl. You could feel his erection as he pushed his hips into your body. Then suddenly his warm, wet tongue tickled your on neck. He licked you slowly from your collarbone up to your ear, giving it a nibble.

"You don't get to kiss me..." His whisper was seductive.

He let go of you, giving you a shove backwards. You caught yourself against the bar. The force of hitting the bar caused pain to shoot from your side. You placed a hand over your sore, halfhealed bullet wound. He crowded you, pushing you against the bar. His lips were parted and his heavy panting caused his chest to move up and down.

"...without permission." J made sure he was physically as close to you as possible.

"Understand?" He stared into your eyes, still panting.

You gave a small nod and tried to look away. He grabbed your face, making you keep your eyes on him. He lowered his face to yours and brushed his lips against yours. You wanted him. He nuzzled his face against your head, smelling your hair, he growled. Then he looked you over. Moving your hand from your side, where you were still holding the healing bullet wound, he placed his own hand over the spot.

J barely squeezed your side. You flinched. He squeezed harder. This time you took the pain. You closed your eyes and swallowed hard. The pain was nauseating but you were able to control it. You could tell by the way he looked at you, that he liked that you took the pain. Suddenly, he lifted you up, picking you up and sitting you down on the bar.

J ripped open your shirt and pulled it to the side. He gently rubbed your side, running his fingers over your bright red newly formed scar. The touch of his hands on your skin sent a wave of lust through your body. You looked down at your scar. As he finished tracing it, he leaned in and kissed the it, surprising you. You watched as he slowly moved his lips over your skin.

It was almost like he was showing compassion, but you knew better, knowing his unpredictability was terrifying. He could hurt you or make you feel wonderful at any moment. You didn't care. You wanted him and feared him, at the same time. You wanted him because you feared him. It was like a game, make it through the bad to get the good and the good...well, can you say mind blowing?

Suddenly, It was like he could hear your thoughts. He stopped and looked up at you. You stared down at him and ran your fingers threw his hair. He buried his face into your chest and snuggled you. For a moment, it was heaven. Then J slammed his hands down, on either side of you, hitting the bar top hard. He turned and walked away, but stopped a few feet away. Turning back, he looked at you, then turned away again, running his fingers through his hair. He was debating with himself. You knew by his mannerisms. After a few seconds he turned, quickly walked back to you and pulled you down off the bar.

As soon as your feet hit the floor, he was unbuttoning your pants. He quickly pushed them down over your hips, letting them fall to the floor. You kicked off your shoes and then wiggled out of the pants. You grabbed his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders. He quickly finished pulling it off himself, before grabbing your face and giving you a hard kiss. As he kissed you, your hands swiftly undid his belt and pants.

The two of you had both completely undressed each other in a rush. Before you could even tell what he wanted next, he lifted you back onto the bar. He went right for your thighs. Slamming them apart and burying his head. You assumed he was about to wildly have at you but he immediately slowed down. His tongue licked slowly and his month sucked hard but gentle. You were sprawled out on top of the bar. You looked down and watched his green hair between your thighs. You grabbed for it, tangling your fingers in it, coaxing him to give you more. He wanted control, and realizing how much your were enjoying yourself did it for him. He lifted his and started using his hands and fingers, so he could see the enjoyment on your face. It was a complete turn on for him to manipulate your body with such consequences. He couldn't stand it any longer.

He stopped and pushed your legs together. Grabbing your arm, he pulled you up to a sitting position. Next his arm slipped under your knees and he leaned into you with his shoulder. He lifted you off the bar like a feather. You were draped over his shoulder, butt in the air, head hanging down his back; you let out a small laugh. He was like a caveman taking his spoils back to the cave.

For good measure, he slapped your asre playfully as he carried you through the empty club.

You no paid attention to where he took you, but felt something soft under you as he tossed you down. You landed on your side and shifted to your back, you were focused on J. He immediately crawled on top of you. You wrapped you legs around his waist, grinding into him as an invitation. You cupped his face and kissed him, then stopped suddenly. You immediately remembered what he'd just told you about having his permission. He grinned, flashing his silver teeth. You hadn't listened. His hand went across your face.

You couldn't help but return his violence with a flirtatious smile. Touching your lip to see if it was bleeding, licking the blood from your finger, given him another smirk.

He tempted you by lowering his head, putting lips near yours. Out of pure spite, you kissed him again. He playfully slapped you and pointed his finger in your face. You smirked and snapped at his finger with your teeth. He playfully slapped at your mouth. Then his hand curled around your throat, while giving you a deep kiss. The harder he kissed you, the harder he squeezed your neck. Your body wiggled under him, causing him to grind his hips into you roughly; reminding you of what he was about to do to you.

His erection throbbed as he rubbed it between your legs. Feeling it made you push against him, begging for it. He looked down and watched as you reached for his dick, wrapping your hand around it. Your long, slow strokes made him moaned deeply. You couldn't wait any longer, your hand guided his dick, so he could easily thrust into you with every inch. You gasped with pleasure, and your eyes squinted shut from pure sexual delight. J's hips moved with precision as he slowly pulled and pushed, in and out of you.

Little by little the both of you started to speed up the rhythm. He grunted and growled, with every thrust, only wanting more. His hands gripped your legs, lifting them higher and spreading them wider, in order to penetrate you deeper. He became aggressively rougher and it felt wonderful. His explored your body, squeezing, sucking, biting whatever he wanted. Suddenly, he grabbed you by the throat again, causing you to instantly moaned and throw your head back out of enjoyment. You wanted to make sure he knew what you craved, reaching for him, your nails dug into his skin into him. He cringed with a smile.

Making sure you had his attention, you barely made a sound, almost just mouthing it, "Harder." You demanded.

Grabbing your arms, he manhandled them above your head, holding then in place with one hand. Vigorously accommodating your request, he immediately began slamming into you with force, while pinning you down using his forearm over your chest. He was keeping you in place as he fucked you harder and harder. With every push, you couldn't help the tiny moans and groans escaping as your body began to build toward a climax.

The sound of a slamming door echoed from in the back of the club. For a spilt second the two of you froze completely, all movement stopped. But J kept his grip on you, not letting you move an inch. Grinning at you, he mouthed, "Shhh." He put his head up and listened. Whoever it was made no attempt to stay quiet, they freely made nosie in the back of the club. J gave you another grin and pulled, his still rock hard dick, out of you. Then immediately, he gently thrusted himself right back into you, pausing for a moment as he continued to listen. Your eyes widen in response, wanting him to stop but also, not wanting him to.

"Hey J. You in here?" One of the guy called from somewhere in the club.

You wiggled under J, trying to get up but he held you tight not allowing it. He said nothing, only thrusting into you again. He grinned and put his hand over your mouth as he started to fuck you with the same vicious speed and force as before. Your muffled moans made him continue with purpose. He grinned down at you, "You better cum quietly."

The men could be heard laughing loudly in the distance the whole time J continued to mount you. The possibility of being caught was adding a completely unexpected level of excitement for you. J shifted a little, leaning his head down and resting his forehead against the top of his hand that still covered your mouth. You were suddenly close to climaxing, it hit you out of no where. Your breathing and body language were apparent to him.

He lifted his head and whispered into your ear, "Do it, cum for daddy." You could hear his panting in your ear before his bit your ear playfully, nibbling and sucking it.

Your muscles tightened and your back arched. That familiar wave of ecstasy washed over you. Then you went limp, causing J to slow way down with his stroke.

"Good boy/girl." He purred into your ear.

"But Im not done." He teased and growled then immediately returned to back to his lively tempo. It literally onky took him 12 more thrust before his own orgasm followed. His body tensed and he pushed deep while he ejaculated. You could feel every littke jerk and twitch he made tickling you. Once done, he followed suit and relaxed his whole body.

For a moment you laid there with J on top of you. The men laughed, very loud this time. You recognized one of their voices as Ollie, a young guy who was just starting out. This suddenly made you forget about what just happened. All you wanted to leave, before being seen with the boss like this. You squirmed to free yourself out from under J. He lifted himself off of you and allowed it. He snicked at your panic, grabbing your hand to tease you. Tugging it free, you scrambled to get your clothes, all the while hoping no one would come in. You quickly threw your pants on and shirt, foregoing the underwear. J was still casually relaxing on the couch, naked. You rolled your eyes, balled up his clothes and threw them at him. He grinned devilishly. You walked over to the bar, sat your shoes down and started straighten your clothes. Looking over to J, he was finally pulling up his pants.

You had barely finished putting on your last shoe when one the guys came thru the door.

"Hey J's in here." He yelled back to Ollie.

The two guys were smart, if they did noticed anything a miss, they said nothing. Besides, they didn't know and couldn't know, right?


	7. Penalty

You looked yourself over in the mirror. The extra afford to look good had paid off. You smelled good. You looked good. You felt good, considering. The bruising on your neck was still noticeable and your side had been incredibly sore the pass two days. At the time, the rough playful sex at the club with J hadn't seemed _that_ rough but your body proved otherwise. You grabbed a jacket with a high collar. You looked in the mirror and popped your collar in an attempt to hide the purple and black marks on your neck. _There is no way in hell._ You chuckled to yourself, then folded the collar back over. You shrugged it off. You figured most of the bruising got lost in your tattoos anyway or that's what you told yourself.

Your phone beeped. Looking down at the text that came in:

J: MOVE IT. WE'RE HERE.

The boss and his very best guys, you excluded of course, were outside waiting. The coldness took your breath as you stepped out the door. You quickly locked up and hurried down the steps. You may a beeline to the closest SUV. As you placed your hand on the handle the window came down. Mo was driving and shot you a smile.

"Boss wants you in the other one." Mo said.

"Oh, OK." You glanced toward the other SUV in front.

You quickly glanced at everybody else in the SUV and gave them a nod. Then headed to the other vehicle. The back door of the SUV popped open slightly. Queing you in to where the boss wanted you. You flung the door open, hopped in and slammed the door behind you. Before you even looked, you knew he was beside you. You could smell and feel him. It made part of you completely excited. Of course, you kept that part tucked deep away, hidden from the world. He was relaxed sitting in the middle of the back seat, both arms stretched out, draped over the back of the seat. As you settled in, you found yourself tucked in nice and close to the boss.

You gave J a nod and acknowledged him, "boss."

Then you move on to Jonny, who was driving, "Frost."

He lifted his fingers off the steering wheel, giving you a small gesture of acknowledgment, as he started to drive. The other SUV followed behind. You glanced over to J. His head was tilted back with his eyes closed. You quitely and carfully adjusted yourself for comfort. He was overly invading your personal space. It was on purpose or at least you assumed it was. He said nothing. After a while you looked out the window, you watched the city pass by. It was quite and there was a slight tension in the air. You could see his reflection in the glass and saw him finally move.

"We've got one more stop." He ordered.

"I got ya, boss." Jonny answered as he looked back at J using the review mirror. "Should I call her? Make sure she's ready this time?"

J gestured 'yes' to him.

After knowing he wasn't speaking to you, you turned and looked back out the window. You felt J's body shift toward you. Turning your head to look at him, he stopped you by placing his hand against your neck, you stared ahead while he touched your neck. He ran his fingers over the bruises, he left one hand on the nap of your neck. You enjoyed his touch but remained very aware that someone else in the vehicle with the two of you. He tugged the collar of your jacket down as far as he could. Then J snapped his fingers, gesturing to you to pull your coat off of your shoulders. You leaned forward and slipped the coat down, off your shoulders. You looked to him, seeing what he wanted. He motioned for you to keep going. So you did. You pulled your arms out of the coat, letting it fall between you and the seat. You sat back and continued to look at him. He was eyeballing your neck still. He moved in closer, keeping his hand on your neck's nap. He used his free hand to unbutton your shirt, making you uncomfortable until you realized it was just enough so he could pull your shirt collar down over your shoulder.

"Which one is he?" He asked as he pawed at the black and purple Xs tattoos down your neck, collarbone, shoulder, shoulder blade and part of your upper arm. "The uncle."

"W-which one was for my uncle?" You shallowed hard.

"The large purple one, near my collarbone." You spoke softly with a little fear in your voice.

You had hoped he was going to let it slide. Telling yourself, maybe it wasn't a big deal to him. In reality, you were surprised he hadn't confronted you about the stunt sooner. You knew you had jeopardized him and the whole crew by killing your uncle. How far J would take this was anyone's guess.

"Here then?" He said as he touched the spot on your lower neck where the X was at. He paused for a moment. Then moved on.

"This one's your father." He ran his thumb over the top purple X, near the top of your neck.

You shook your head 'yes'.

"And your brother." Again, he rubbed his thumb over another purple X in the sea of black Xs.

"I bet you remember each and everyone of these...each kill better than the last." He traced some of the Xs very slowly.

"Or maybe you don't." He slipped his hand down your shirt pushing more of it out of the way.

"But." He quickly jerked his hand out and eccentricity held up one finger.

"That one," he poked the X that represented your uncle. "It wasn't an actually kill at the time, now was it? "

His voice turned sinister, "Was it?" He bared his teeth.

Suddenly, his grip on the back of your neck tighten violently. While holding out the other hand toward Jonny, "Givemme a lighter."

You cringed as you heard the order come out of his month but made no attempt to stop him. Jonny handed him a zippo. Then J handed the Zippo to you. He reached into his enter jacket pocket and pulled out a knife. You felt him push his weight against you.

"Light it." He ordered you.

Your hand trembled as you opened the Zippo and struck the flint. The flame danced in your shaky hand. J curled his top lip over his silver teeth and held the knife blade to the flame, allowing it to get hot. He slipped his hand from the nap of your neck up, into your hair. Once his fingers were tangled in your hair he pulled back on your head making you fully expose the tattoos on your neck.

He rested his forehead on the side of your head and whispered into your ear, "The next time you do something so stupid, and risk everything...I'll kill you."

You felt regret. Regret for having done something to jeopardize the trust he had in you. Disappointment wasn't something J handled very well. And deep down you knew that still being alive was only due to the fact that you had proven yourself over and over again to be one of his paramounts. Still, it couldn't go unpunished. It wouldn't go unpunished.

His breath tickled your ear as he continued to pull your hair. He shoved you into the door, pinning you between it and him. You cut your eyes down to look at the knife. It was no longer in the flame, he was distracted. You could feel his lips brush against your ear lobe, causing a shiver to run threw your body. He sensed it, causing him to nibble at your ear lobe, then giving it a hard suck. A moan escaped your lips. Your enjoyment caused you to drop the zippo into your lap. You felt him smile against your skin. His ego was being stroked by your state of fluster. He was panting, out of excitement, as he pulled harder at your hair and continued to whisper to you.

"If I ever do kill you... I'll make sure it's painless. I'll make sure to fuck you before hand." You could feel his body moving from his panting.

He growled loudly into your ear letting the growl turn into a slow chuckle.

"We'd both enjoy that." He breathed into your ear.

Your lips parted with a softly gasp of excitement. As crazy as it was, threat or not, you were turned on. Suddenly, he pulled his head away from you.

"Where's the lighter?" He asked.

Your eyes popped open and you felt around your lap tying to find it. It wasn't there, so you started feeling in the seat around your legs. You stopped suddenly when you felt J's hand reach down between your thighs. He was feeling around and started to move his hand under you, causing you to lift your butt out of the seat. He smirked, making sure to touch as much of you as he could while still feeling for the lighter. When he found it he stopped moving his hand, but left it under you just long enough to make sure he was driving you crazy.

He handed you the lighter and nodded for you to light it. He began to reheat the knife blade , moving the blade back and forth across the flame. With a forceful jerk of your head, he had unobstructed excess to your neck. J pressed the red hot blade into your skin, burning off the tattooed X that symbolized the "kill" of your uncle all those years ago. At first, it felt like an ice cube against your skin. Then a terrible stinging sensation started to build so quickly, that you had no time to prepare yourself for the pain. You cringed and let out a cry. You bit down on your lip, keeping yourself from making another sound. It hurt but it wasn't anything you couldn't take, you told yourself. J bared his teeth as removed the blade from your skin.

"Ooooh." He grinned. "That's gotta hurt." He laughed.

It did. The pain only got worst, like a slow boil, after he removed the blade. The burning and stinging continued to build. You could smell your brunt skin, it stunk. Your eyes were closed and your month pressed shut tightly. You remained pinned between J and the door. He studied your reaction. Once he saw that you were keeping it together, he loosened his grip on your hair and slid his hand back down to the nap of your neck. He suddenly stabbed the knife into the door, leaving it there.

He shifted his weight so he wasn't holding you agaisnt the door as much. His hand brushed your knee, before slowly moving up your thigh.

He bit his bottom lip quickly and spoke, "Now that that's over..."

You opened your eyes and squinted and at him, "Fuck you, J." It came out as a whisper.

His hand stopped moving up your leg and he squeezed your thigh hard. He started to gently rub the nap of your neck. His grin turned into a dirty little smirk before busting into a laugh

"That's why you're my favorite, kid." He relaxed his pose, sitting back.

He made it possible for you to have a little breathing room. He quickly turned his attention from you for the mist part. He continued to rub your neck, letting his fingers glide over over skin. His touch was ment to be calculating, letting you know you were his property and he was entitled any and all privileges. Your lower neck was on fire, it felt like it was spreading. When you looked down you could see the red inflamed skin arou d the burn spreading. Your shirt rubbed against your burn. You winced in pain and quickly grabbed the shirt moving it from the burn. You kept your eyes down almost embarrassed to show pain.

You let your mind wondering as a distraction. You were unaware that the SUV was stopped in front of J's building. In fact, it wasnt until you heard the door open and felt the cold blast if air hit your face, that you looked up to see what was going on.

"Puddin'!" Harley's voice was cheerful and bubbly.

She was getting into the backseat, on the other side of J. She bounced in, hugged him while giving him a sweet liitlr kiss on the cheek. He made no effort to reciprocate any sign of affection. Which was normal. Then she leaned over him and looked at you.

"Hiya!" She had a grin on her face.

You shot a quick half smile at her, enough not to be rude and continued to stew on what just happened. Harley's eyes quickly traveled to the knife stabbed in the door, then she looked you over, maybe for blood. Whether she saw J's hand on your neck and his fingers slowly moving back and forth, was anyines guess. She said nothing. Only maintaining her normal cheerful mannerisms.

"Puddin'...did ya remember to bring it?" You hear her chewing gum between her words.

"Of course, cupcake." J replied with a tone that was odd for him.

It was so odd, you let out a half snort as you tried to keep from laughing like an asshole. J squeezed your neck tightly, giving you a warning. You jerked away from his touch. Almost as fast as you realized what you had, knowing he didn't take kindly to the gesture, he slapped you hard. Then immediately shoved you, pushing your face against the car window. Your breath fogged up the window, your mouth and nose pressed into the cold glass. You felt J's body weight push against you. Harley started giggling loudly.

You felt J's weight shift off of you and smack. He planted an open hand across her face, just like he'd done to you. A high pitch gasp left her lips.

"You." He pointed at her, "Stay fucking quite."

You remained in place, where he'd left you. You knew better than to move at this point.

J closed his eyes for a moment and tilted his head back. He was trying to shake off some of his anger. He ran his hands over his head, pushing his hair back into place, then cracked his neck. You felt his hand wrap around your arm, then he pulled you from your hunched over position, so you were sitting up right.

"This isn't done." His lip curled as he snarled it quickly into your ear, squeezing your arm before releasing it.

You sat there like a child who had been scolded. Over the years you had been the recipient of J wrath and you knew very well that you had 'asked' for it. Again, you found your thoughts and emotions race, keeping you distracted you the rest of the ride. Harley's loud giggle snapped you out out of your daze. You glanced over at her and J. Her legs were drapped over one of his thigh. She had one arm rested on his shoulder, while she stroked his hair. She was whispering into his ear and giggling. J sat staring ahead, his arm rested over her legs. Normally, you wouldn't have paid them much attention, this was normal behavior. But for a spilt second you found yourself feeling...well, you didn't know for sure what you felt.

 _"You feel nothing,"_ you told yourself. _"What's going on between you and the boss... it's nothing, not really. It's just "fun"._ _Right? Right._ "

As you tried convincing yourself of this lie, you looked out the window, seeing the night's destination. The annual winter charity event of Gotham's rich and famous was being held at the Gotham Library in full swing. In other words, some of gotham's most richest "criminals" where gathering to pat each other on the back for being legal thugs, free from the law's reach. The point for showing up tonight was about chaos. J wanted to reminded Gotham who was really in charge. And maybe, in the process, get Batsy to come out and play.

The two luxury SUVs raised no concerns as they rolled up to the front doors of the Gotham library. They appeared to be, like every other vehicle, dropping off guest. Immediately, your business mode kicked in and everything else disappeared. You didn't care about the pain coming from your lower neck. You didn't care about the boss threatening you earlier or the imposed gallivanting either . It was time to do The Joker's bidding and that's all that mattered.

You scanned the front of the building looking for guards, off and on duty cops.

"The guards are in suits, there to thr left of the entrance. We'll clear them, then give us five minutes to herd the crowd and scan them." You turned and looked at J as you said it.

He pushed Harley off of himself and checked out the front of the library. He nodded, agreeing with your assessment. You looked at Frost and then looked out the back glass to make sure the other SUV was in place. You and Frost got out. As soon as Mo saw you, he cued the others and they also got out. As odd as it was, you couldn't help but notice how empeckably dressed everyone was. The six of you marched toward the doors. At first, the doormen pay no attention to the six well dressed people approaching them. It wasn't until Mo and the other three guys with him, pulled out machine guns and fired that the guards made a scramble for the door. A shower of bullets laid waste to everything, instantly clearing a path, allowing everyone to freely walk in.

You entered in first, Frost at your side. The guest were already running for cover.

You yelled, "Everyone! Listen and corporate." You pulled your gun out and shot one single bullet into the air. "Understand?"

Immediately, there was a symphony of screams and crying. The other crew members came rushing into the building, randomly popping off bullets here and there. You waited for everyone to get into place, taking position around the library.

"Quite!" Your gun rang out as you emptied the clip into one of the huge marble statues decorating the library. "Hush!"

Silence was almost immediate, except a few sporadic uncontrollable crying people. You taunted a women standing close to you by covering your lips with your finger and telling her "shhhh." Doing so with a slight smile on your face. The women only cried worst as you started reloaded your gun.

"HA. HA. HA!" J's laugh echoed though the building causing gasps of fear. He needed no introduction.

He was standing just pass the entrance. Harley near his side smiling and chewing gum. J maniacly laughed as he walked toward the middle of the crowd. Singling out people, he'd sometimes only mentally fucking with them, other times he'd be very physically violent. Most of them he could bring to tears, in a matter of a few seconds, by simply stoping and looking at them. He loved it.

Offers of money and jewelry was of no interest to him. He wanted their fear.

"I like your dress." Harley was looking a young women up and now. "Give it to me."

The women just stood there. Maybe she was confused by the friendly smile and bubbly tone Harley was using.

Harley gave her a few seconds before poking the lady with her baseball bat.

"Take." Poke.

"It." Poke.

"Off." Poke.

"And give it to me." Harley popped a gum bubble in the women's face.

The women's eyes where filled with tears as she slowly started to undress herself. Once the dress was off and women handed it to Harley who held it up to her body. She looked it over and then playfully tossed it aside like unwanted trash.

As J and Harley had their fun, your attention was drawn to a man near the middle of the crowd. He had a small gun pulled out. You quitely walked up behind him. He was startled and went to hit you as you took the weapon out of his hand. With a quick step back and then a blow to the head, with the butt of your gun, the man fell to the floor. He was knocked out cold. A few of the people around him let out gasps.

Causing J to notice, he grinned as he approached.

"Naughty, naughty." J laughed. "No guns." He said kicking the knocked out man one time and then moving on.

Suddenly a loud crashing sound erupted, causing everyone to divert their attention from J to Harley. She was on the second floor giggling as she leaned over the balcony looking at the chaos she had created. She had taken her bat to the 20 foot mirror that hung in library's ballroom. People were scattering in their attempt to stay out of the mirror's path. The look on J's suggested he was entertained but annoyed, the sudden movement of so many people created a panic for the door. Something he didn't want.

Crowd control was nesassary. The pop of gun shots rang out killing and injuring a few people. The herd froze.

"Rrrrwwahhhhh!" J let out a loud frustrating groan after which he simply shot a older man to release stress.

"I'm tried of waiting!" His voice echoed.

He spun around eccentricity.

"Where! Is! Batsy!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Yo-ou peeoPLE..." He emphasized certiab syllables.

"...are just the kind of scum he bends over backwards to save." J ran his hands threw his hair.

He slowly walked up to a mid-age woman. She was in tears as he put his arm around her.

His silver grin flashed as he spoke. "We're just gotta have to give him a better reason to show up then."

"HA HA ha!"

He looked around. "Is no one filming or calling the cops? What's wrong with you people?" It rolled out playfully.

He pointed his gun to the man next to them, "Where's your phone? Get it out."

He man fumbled as he did so. He stood there holding it out.

"Let's make sure Batsy knows he's expected." J curled his lip, "Film."

The man, shaking out of fear, started filming J.

He blew a kiss and started singing into the camera, "Imagine me and you, I do..."

He grinned charming as he serenaded Batman, "I think about you day and night, its only right..."

Harley could be heard in the distance background, giggling with delight, enjoying the song as if she could imagine the song being for her and not batman.

"To think about thr Bat you love and hold him tight...Sooo... Haaapppy...Tooogetthherrrr-heehe."

"Batsy!" He eccentrically expressed into the camera, "This one's for you." J gave the a charismatic grin to the camera and started laughed maniacally. Then shot the guy holding the phone as he filmed.

J picked up the phone and filmed the guy. Then ramdomly unloaded his gun into the crowd until it was empty, before turning the camera on himself.

"Bye bye Batsy." He stopped filming, tossed the phone to Mo and ordered him to uploaded the clip immediately.

While this was going on you noticed a man who had been slowly making his way to the front of the crowd, blending right in with the sea of tuxs. He hadn't caught anyone's attention thus far. It wasn't until J fired into the crowd that the man stood out. He didn't flinch or duck. Instead he shielded people from bullets. As J continued taunting the crowd after his performance. While you slowly came up behind the man, placing your gun barrel against the man's lower back. He didn't react, only turning his head enough to see you.

You whispered, "You're to brave for this crowd." He said nothing, only calmly stood there.

"You a cop or such?" You pressed the gun against him harder.

He answered, "The cops. They're on the way. Just go and leave these people alone."

You immediately went into the man's pockets searching for a gun or something. You felt a badge in his pocket and pulled it out. It was a Special Crime Unit badge.

"A dirty-ahh, shit." His head slammed back into yours hitting you hard.

You stumbled back a step or two before ducking to miss his fist. You placed a right hook to the man's side. He didn't seem to notice it. Before you realized it, he'd hit you again and then again. You could hear J laughing. You found yourself against a wall. You went down as the man swung at you once again, causing him to slam his hand into the wall. You immediately put your shoulder into the man stomach and pushed. He fell back. You stomped his jut hard. He curled up in pain as you started kicking him. Manhandling him onto his back, you kneeled on his chest and hit him In the face one good time. Without warning, the man's fist met your jaw so hard it rolled you off of him. You laid on the floor. You were dazed. The hit was so hard, you couldn't make heads or tails of the situation for a few moments.

You could hear J laughing, only he was a lot closer than before. You flipped over to your knees, as you started gaining your wits about yourself. You could taste blood. Looking over you could see J kicking the man repeatedly and laughing. You pushed yourself up. You were pissed. J looked at you and offered you the man. You walked over, stood over the man, waited for him to open his eyes and then popped him in the head with a bullet.

J eccentricity clapped and bowed for the crowd as they watched in horror. You did nothing. Inside your pride was being fed but it was never anything you showed. You always looked cool, calm, and collected.

So after J started tagging the wall with his signature HA! He also left a message for the bat: "more will die". It was only a matter of time before the police sirens could be heard in the distance. That was the cue to leave the horrorshow that had been created. The crowd was left in a bloody mess. Crying and dazed from witnessing so much unnecessary violence. Overall, 14 had been killed and 19 were injured. J's message to the bat was loud and very, very clear.

As the cops neared everyone headed out the doors. You jumped into the back of the second suv. Mo was in the driver's seat already. Mo was waiting for some of the others, when the boss jumped in the passenger seat and ordered "go". Without hesitation the SUV raced away. As normal, with the boss, it was assumed that everyone else got out on their own, J only cared about his ass. No matter how good the illusion, he had no concern for any life but his own and you knew this. That included you, Harley, Mo, Frost or any of you.

Luckily, no cops followed, by an act god. You got a call from Frost letting you know everyone else got out. After hanging up with him the relief of everything going 'smoothly' caused you to laugh.

At this point, J's mood was unreadable to you. The bat hadn't showed up but the chaos and mayham had to have been enjoyable to him. He normally would be gloating. You saw Mo looking at you using the rearview mirror and you gave him a big smile out of relief. As you smiled J turned and looked at you. Your smiled fated, unsure of where you stood with him.

Everything that had occurred prior to the library ran through your mind. He stared at you intensely for just a moment. You stared back, blood spatter across your face. Your lip was horribly busted. For a very brief moment a smirked cracked on his face. Suddenly, he was out of the front seat, over the middle hump and into the backseat. There was a moment of confusion when you started to push him off of you, not knowing what he was trying to do. You stopped immediately when you felt his hands tugging at the top of your pants. Instantly, you accommodated his movement with your own.

Your butt lifted off the seat allowing J to slip your pants over your hips and down. You finished wiggling yourself out of them, while he flipped over, sitting down in the seat. He started unbuttoning his own pants, pulling them down to accommodate the situation. He didn't crawl back on top of you, instead he grabbed you and pulled you toward him. The two of you were magically in sync, making everything happen so fast. As your legs straddled his lap, he guided you down. His hands gripping you waist as he watched you rolled your hips forward then down onto his dick. Almost in unison, a moan escape from both your lips, as you immediately started grinding against him.

You gripped the back of the seat, behind his shoulders, using the leverage to your benefit. Your movement was perfect and your performance, flawless. For once, J was completely at your mercy. The pleasure he felt was overwhelming his ability to think. His hands went under your shirt, following your back bone all the way to the nap of your neck. He grabbed the back of your neck and held you. He nestled his face into your throat and collarbone, brushing against your burn, causing you to gasp out of pain. The mix of pleasure and pain made you feel delirious, sending you over the edge without warning. You arched your back and slow your movement in response to the wave of pleasure that had just taken over your body. Waiting just long enough for you to enjoy yourself, J tightened his grip on your neck and hugged you incredibly tight. He lifted his hips and slammed himself into you a few more times causing his own climax.

It was over as fast as it started. You immediately wanted to crawl away but J still had a hold of your neck and was tightly squeezing your waist. You were embarrassed, only after the fact, that Mo was driving. Moving a little to test whether or not J would allow it, there was relief when he released his grip. You threw yourself into the seat beside J and quickly started putting on your pants. You glanced to Mo. He was very wisely keeping his eyes on the road.


	8. Keep Your Friends Close

The aftermath was silence. You said nothing, only cornering yourself in the seat and looking at the boss. J said nothing. His head was tilted back, rested on the car seat. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be recomposing himself. Mo said nothing, continuing to act as if everything was kosher. Despite having just played witness to you and the boss copulating, _poor Mo_ , you thought.

The silence broke. J's phone started ringing. Digging it out of his pocket, he tossed it into the seat without answering it. He causally pulled his pants up, buttoned and buckled them up. He took a moment to crack his neck, adjust his clothing, and push his hair back into place. His movements were sudden and quick as he leaned forward, between the front seats. He grinned at Mo then winked at him as he reached to turn on the radio. He scanned through the channels, finding a news report about the mayhem at the charity event. He snarled as the report ended only a few seconds after finding it and began looking for another channel. J relaxed back into the seat, after coming across another report. He laughed with excitement, like a kid on Christmas. The slight awkward tension that had formed quickly vanish.

That was just another example of power the boss had over people. He could make someone so fearful that they couldn't function or he could coax someone into letting their guard down with one simple look. Regardless, you knew better than to allowed yourself to relax too much. At least not yet.

As the report went on the three of you laughed, from time to time, as the retelling of what happened occurred on the radio. They hadn't talked to any of the victims yet, but the reporters had already started over exaggerating everything about J: His looks, his mannerisms, his laugh. Given that his laugh was one of a kind, but by the time they retold the "facts" it was something all together different. It was always quite humours to hear the whole thing unfold. As the report moved on to the known casualty list, your name was brought up.

"The one time commissioner Jack Grogan, who was know for his corruption and abuse of the position, also fell victim to The Joker and his gang. Y/n was witnessed shooting Grogan point blank in the head, after Grogan had nearly been beaten to death. Known for working closely with The Joker, as his possible second in command, Y/N is considered to be a danger. Police urge the public not to approach if seen, instead report sightings to GCPD..."

J clapped his hands together once and laughed loudly. You felt him grab your thigh and squeeze. That was the closest thing to a good job you'd get. For you, it was enough. Making you glow with pride, even if it was just pure luck that you'd gotten a retired commissioner.

"The attack was used, by the notorious criminal, The Joker, to sent Batman a apparent message. A personal note for Batman saying: more will die, was found painted across the wall at the scene. Some say it's time for the police to do something. A city held hostage by fear, while two madmen use violence as love letters.."

J put his hand over his heart as he listened to the reporter's line. Then he exploded with happiness.

He hit the back of the seat out of excitement, "Yes, yes! I've been telling Batss for years that there's no difference be the two of us. Apart from the obvious, with me being better looking, unabashed and more apt. "

"And funnier." You couldn't help but chim in, causing J to grab the sides of your head and kiss your forehead.

He relaxed back into seat and draped his arms across the back of the seat. He gestured with one hand for you to come closer.

"The city sees us as one in the same." His tone was very de facto.

He continued to talk with his arms stretched out across the seat as you shifted toward him. Once you were tucked under his arm and snuggled against his side, he rested his chin on the top of your head for a moment, then started talking again. He smelled good.

"Old Batsy boy is just spinning his wings in the air, right about now. He'll be craving to get his hands on me. Haha. Oh, I can't wait to our next dance." He beamed with joy. His silver grin as wide as it possibly could be, the rest of the short trip back.

After any high profile jobs J liked to keep his best soldiers on hand and close by, just in case. And this time you had left a wake in your path just as large as J, the cops would be just as happy to get their hands on you, as they would him. The added protection was comforting but not the cure all. It was only a matter of time before the cops and the Bat would come for J. At least, for now the apartment would be safe for a few days, until other plans were made. And you were already thinking about what had to be done.

Arriving at the apartment everyone quickly got in. If you were one of the unlucky few who lived in the same building, you learned to over look the criminal activity. Getting caught in the lobby or a hallway when J came through, you did one of the following things: got out of the way, went back into your apartment, walked quickly around a corner or put your head down to show respect. No one got "caught" in an elevator with him. If he got on, you got off. Didn't matter the floor. It amazed some, that someone who was so wanted by the law could maintain a residents in such a up scale building. These people were so frightened of him that no one talked. Some even went out of their way to protect him. Of course, this wasn't the only ha-hacienda on the map, just his favorite.

You got into the elevator behind Mo. You peeked out to see if anyone else was coming. J and Frost were conversing, not paying any attention. The other three guys were already going up, in the other elevator. The only one left was Harley and she was walking toward you. You pressed the floor number and then hit the close door button discreetly. You pressed it again, harder. Hoping that some how it would make the door close faster. Harley used her bat to stop the door from closing. Her smile was bright as she spun around into the elevator. You nodded to her. She gave you a grin and then gave Mo the stink eye, nodding for him to get off. He did. You exhaled deeply, not wanting to deal with what might be happening.

The door closed and the two you went up. She leaned on the wall beside you. She stared at you with a glare. The two of you were like day and night, but the day and the night of the same 24 hours. Harley was bouncy, cheerful, provoking, and annoying. You were composed, humble, and mild. The only thing the two of you shared was the dangerous wickedness that lurked just underneath the surface. Violence, destruction, lust for carnage: it was all there in the two of you. It's what undoubtedly drew J to the both of you.

You could feel her staring you down, you paid her no mind. Keeping your head turned straight ahead, eyes fixed on the elevator doors.

"I know." It was just loud enough to hear, making you closes your eyes for a moment.

As you opened them you tried not to make a face. She chewed her gum loudly and leaned close into you and repeated herself, "I know."

She suddenly pulled your collar, glancing at your burn with a smirk. You casually shooed her hand away, acting unbothered by her attempt to taunt you.

"You know what, Harley?" You snapped at her.

"I. Know." She popped a bubble, "I can smell him all over you."

You quickly straightened your posture, making yourself almost the same heighted as her. She was hovering close to you, chewing her gum with vigor.

You exhaled in a defeated manner and shook your head no. "Nope. No way."

You turned your to her, "I'm not doing this, there's nothing to discuss."

She snarled. "Liar, lair..." She slapped the side of your hip and giggled, "Pants on fire."

She leaned against the elevator wall, next to you and tilted her head toward you.

"Theerrree'sss rruummmoorss." She playfully stretched out her words.

You tried to ignore her but couldn't stop yourself, "Rumors?"

"Yes indeedy. The kind that make me think you might be..." She winked and made nosie to go along with a dirty, lewd hand movement. "...my Puddin'."

She started swinging her bat around in a circle. Almost daring you to admit to it. You gladly accepted.

"You forget it's my job, to take care of his needs and desires. Whatever they are, whenever they arise." You deviously smirked. "And I never deny him anything."

The look on her face was easy to read. She understood that you were admittedly not denying it but she hadn't expected you to do that. Harley's eyes widen and a look of disappointment came over her. You unexpectedly hadn't planned on feeling sorry for her, however, it wasn't guilt and you knew this. Nothing else was said for a while, until the elevator stopped and the doors opened, breaking the moment of tension.

You started to walk out but stopped. You had one more thing to say.

You didn't turn to her you just stared ahead, "There is a difference between you and I...he loves you." Her face instantly brightened.

Immediately, you knew you shouldn't have said that to her. You knew that J didn't, no, couldn't love. Apart from what he felt for himself and maybe the Bat, love wasn't something that J could give. Knowing this was the only thing that would allow you to come out of this whole thing with your heart intact, maybe not your life but that was a different matter.

You were already few steps ahead of her, when the other elevator opened up. You glanced over your shoulder seeing J, Mo and Frost stepping out of it. Harley saw them too.

"Puddin'!" She cooed. It was all you could do not to make a face.

"Hmmm, come to Daddy." J wrapped his arm around her as she kissed his continued down the hall together.

You opened the door to the apartment, being the first one to arrive to it and held the door open for everyone. You were the last to go into the apartment and used it as away to sneak pass everyone. You needed alone time. Making a beeline for the restroom, you locked yourself in and let yourself relax. There was still blood on your face and shirt from your activities, so you washed your face. You cringed as you cleaned the burn on your neck. Fuck, it hurt. It was crudely shaped like the knife blade and had actually defaced more than one of your X's. You closed your eyes and braced yourself on the bathroom counter.

"Shit. Shit." You expressed your anger, then you just let it go. You were good at that.

Everyone was still pretty geared up from the events of the evening. You could hear them as you creeped out of the bathroom and headed toward the kitchen. J was having everyone take shots with him. Over the next few days J would likely be very demanding; at least, for now, he was in a good mood. When he was on a high, he was very high. When he was low, he was very low. knowing J was hypomanic, allowed you to understand his mood swings. His highs lasted months and his lows came and went fast. Regardless, he was still dangerous no matter the mood.

You continued to listen to them carrying on, as you found a seat in the kitchen.

"What's happening in here?" Mo's voice was comforting.

You flashed the bottle of beer you had started on. He made a 'eww' face, offering you a drink from the bottle of liquor he had instead, before taking a swig of it himself. You declined, being careful not to drink too much; you had business to take care of later. There wasn't anything said, between Mo and you, for a long time. The tension in the air was noticeable, you already knew everything he wanted to say and vice a versa. The look on his face said it all... _My lips are sealed, but what the fuck are you think?_ Your face said to him... _I know, I know, I KNOW._

Finally something had to give, "It would be wise if you didn't talk about what you witness in the-"

Mo put his hand up, interrupting you, "I have no idea what you're on about."

"Good." You couldn't help but smirk as you said it.

Mo only shook his head and took another drink.

After another short spell of silence, the two of you started talking about the resent rumors about Gotham's DA, Harvey Dent having gone to the dark side.

"Regardless, he's got more enemies than the whole lot of us combined. He won't last." Mo was not budging from his opinion.

"I see why you'd think that, but I'm telling you... If it's true and he's broken bad. They're going to love him for it." You took a drink, "Of course there'll be the ones with personal vendetta's against him-"

"Exactly. And he won't last a second on the street. And the cops, shit, I bet they're practically jerking off to the idea of bring Mr. Goodie-two-shoes down."

"Just how bad has he supposedly gone?" You asked.

"They say he's been disfigured and it fucked with his head." Mo looked around and then started to whisper, "Kind of like what happened to the boss."

"Well, I'll believe it when I see it." You chuckled softly, "And for the record, the boss's crazy. It was there looong before any of..." You made a gesture to your face and hair. "...that happened."

You smirked and gave Mo a wink. Trying not to laugh. Mo laughed nervously as he took another shot. That was the most candid you'd ever been before about the boss and his "accident".

J and Harley retired to the bedroom causing the other guys to come into the kitchen looking for food. One of them started making grilled cheese, your belly started to growl as soon as the smell hit your nostrils. You gladly demanded one.

"Who's keeping watch right now? Frost? Where is he?" You scanned the room while taking a bit of grilled cheese.

"He's out in the hall." One of the guys chimed in.

One of the guys spoke up, "Boss confirmed that he wants us to stay close the next few days."

You immediately went into business mode, "Nicky, Mo and umm, shit" you though quickly, "Ollie. Keep close and keep your eyes open. Get rest when you can. I'll be around too." You glanced at your phone for the time.

"But before shit gets too crazy around here, I've gotta handle something. I'll be back in less than two hours." You finished stuffing the last bite of grill cheese into your mouth.

"I don't have to tell you that every cop in Gotham is just praying to get their hands on you. Someone else could..." Mo warned.

You smiled, "it's not the first time and won't be the last. I'll be back."

"Aye aye, captain." Mo saluted you.

You waved him off with a lazy movement of your hand. Then left.

* * *

Since the attack on his wife, Michael Akins thought is prudent to move. He had only just started to get back into the swing of his everyday life, without looking over his shoulder constantly. He still hadn't agreed to any certain terms when it came to helping the Joker and somehow hoped the whole thing had been a nightmare or joke. In fact, he had even discussed the situation with Gordon. Which in turn, only made Gordon feel that his honestly was just another sign that Akins was the right man for the job when he left. No one knew yet if Gordon would actually retire but Akins knew one thing: Gordon had been dancing, privately, with the idea of leaving after the death of his second wife. Gordon had now found a kindred spirit in Akins...Or so he through.

That morning Akins got up at 430am, like always. He went for a morning run, like always and returned to his home around 515am, like always. He peeled out of his sweat shirt and left his running shoes by the door. Walking into the kitchen, he started heating some water in the kettle. As he opened the dog food, he waited for his little guy to run into the kitchen. This morning the dog didn't bounce in with excitement. Akins listened and suddenly a feeling of fear came over him. He immediately went into cop mode, going straight for his office, where he kept his gun. As he cut through the living room, he froze. You sat, relaxed, in his favorite chair. The family's dog was on your lap and enjoying being petted by you. The little guy gave his master a friendly tail wag and continued to happily cuddle in your lap.

"That's a good boy." You loved on the dog.

"Go see daddy." You gently put the dog down onto the floor, where he ran around cheerfully.

"The whole of Gotham is out looking for you and that crazy boss of yours." Akins was angry and frightened.

You ignored him comment.

"Animals love me." You boasted as Akins stood frozen.

Your gun was out and laying on the side table, right beside the chair. You looked at it, making sure Akins saw it.

"First, for your peace of mind. The wife is safe." You pointed up. "She's still sound asleep. I checked on her...while you were out running, Michael."

"Why I oughta..." Akins balled his hands into fist.

"Hush. You're going sit down and listen." You were amused.

"Second, about the manhunt...when your little sideshow decides to make a move...You better hope you're in the loop. I'll be expecting a phone call, a polite 'we're coming'. Understand?" You looked at him and coaxed him into nodding yes.

"Third, rumors are Gordon's close to the edge. Not as close as we'd like but he's getting there. Rumors also have you confiding in him...Secrets you shouldn't be telling."

You gave him no time to speak, "someone in your position should have kept their mouth shut."

You lifted an eyebrow at him and gave him a scowling look.

"Please understand, I had no choice. I'm being pulled in so many directions. Gordon wouldn't have trusted me if I hadn't told him the truth. You left me in that place for three days. They knew something was wrong. I-I couldn't just make up some lie..." He was upset. "Then what happened to Garselle."

"Cool down. Lucky for you the boss gets it. He's reasonable than most assume...sometimes. And as it turns out it's better for us." You smiled.

"Oh god. He's not here, is he!?" You could hear the fear in his voice.

You smiled. It always impressed you how only the suggestion of the boss's name, not even saying it, could make grown men crumble. It was nostalgic. Made you remember why, no matter the situation, you cast your lot with J.

"I'm just the appetizer, I'm afraid." You scooted quickly to the edge of the chair and took your gun in hand.

"Look, Mr. Akins, we don't want much, just a heads up, a useful tip from time to time. You don't have to worry about anything but keeping up that wholesome appearance of yours. In fact, the more you work against us, the more trust worthy it makes you look. The boss gets it." You stood up and started walking toward Akins.

"So you just keep doing that. Continue to make Gordon feel all cozy inside when he thinks about you." You stood right in front of him, as put your gun back in its hostler.

"You just report it all back to us now." You playfully slapped one of his shoulders a few times. "Yes?"

"Mr. Akins." He didn't said anything. "Mr. Akins, Yes?" He barely mumbled "yes".

Grabbing his head, you forcefully moved his head in the 'yes' motion, "Yes. Yes."

"Yes!" He loudly repeated.

"Good." You gave him a smile. "Cheer up, you should be happy. Everything is going to be OK. You'll report to me. I'll give you an hour notice before we meet. That'll give you time to keep everything looking kosher, in case it's a busy day. Once the hour is up, I'll give you a meeting place."

You handed him a burner phone. "If it rings and you don't answer...oh, oh, oh. Trust me you don't want to find out what happens next."

"Oh, something else about last night...Any warrants issued yet?" You stood back, looking down at him.

He was nerviously looking up at you. "I haven't heard. But you can bet, if they didn't get them last night, Gordon's going to have them by the end of the day at all cost."

"Do they know where to find J?" Your tone went very somber.

He shook his head no.

You smiled, "Good show."

"One more thing, Mr. Akins. Payment." You threw a bundle of cash into his lap. "He told you he'd make it worth your while."

"I don't want it." Akins didn't touch the money.

"Then give it away. Burn it. I don't care." You smirked, "your wife might have other ideas."

You quickly pulled your gun out and motioned for her to come in. She had woken up and made her way down stairs.

"J-just d-do what t-they say, Michael." She burred out.

"Smart girl, that one." You said with a soft smile. "I believe my job is done here. Yes? We all in agreement, then?"

Before going you took their phones and left them in the mailbox outside.

It was quite when you got back to the apartment. You silently walk around checking on things. You had seen Ollie and Nicky down stairs, keeping watch. Frost was doing a great job keeping watch up stairs, sound asleep in a chair. You squeezed his shoulder gently, as you walked by, to wake him.

"Shit." He mumbled, realizing that he'd fallen asleep.

You gave him a 'dont-worry-about-it' nod and continued moving through the apartment. Mo was asleep on the sofa with the TV baring loudly. The door to J's bedroom was still closed. With everything nice and quite, you took a moment for yourself, heading out onto the balcony. You were still in the door way when you stopped and lit up. You took a deep drag, enjoying every minute of it.

"Those things'll kill ya." There was a rhythm in the way he spoke that was like no other, it sent waves of excitement down your body.

You exhaled with a small cough and smiled, "It's not that kind of smoke, boss."

"Tisk tisk." He moved his finger back and forth.

You slightly pulled the collar of your shirt down, "technically it could be medical."

You gave J a slight lift of your brow.

"You made me do it, now didn't ya?" He gave you a fake look of sympathy.

You smirked.

He grinned, took a drink of beer and gestured for you to sit.

You finished stepping out of the doorway and took a deep breath of fresh air. Then sat down and kicked your feet up on the same ottoman the boss was using. You continued to smoke the joint.

You knew J didn't smoke, so you didn't offer.

You looked over to him, "Akins is on board, a little nervous and jumpy but good...says Gordon will have all the warrants he needs by the end of the day. They don't know where you're at. At least not yet."

J stared ahead as he listened. He wasn't overly worried, you could tell by his mannerism.

"Who do you want take? If it comes down to fleeing." You asked him.

He sit there, elbows rested on the arms of the chair, his fingers together but spread apart, as he thought.

"Mo and Jonny. Harley, of course. You. But if things get to out of hand...You know what to do." He was still staring off, not actually looking at anything while he thought.

He finally broke his concentration and looked at you, "Put Frost on Harley. And you're with me, if we have to split. If something happens, you make sure he stays with her, at all cost. Understood?"

You nodded as he suddenly sat up and turned toward you.

"No. You go with with her, instead. I can trust you'll do right by me and by her." Again you nodded.

He didn't say anything in return. He only sat back and relaxed again. He knew it would be handled correctly.

The sun was barely peeking up, casting a purple hue in the sky. You were staring intensely at the clouds as you continued to smoke the joint.

"That one looks like a ice cream cone." You realized of all the things to be thinking about, of course, it'd be food. But it did, it looked like a cone. _You're high_ , you thought.

You slowly turned to look at J and realized the face he was making. He was actually looking up at the cloud and studying it too. You watched him, watching the cloud. For some reason, you found it extremely odd and weird that he was actually looking at a cloud. You couldn't remember a time when he'd been relaxed enough to so, causing a half-laugh, half-exhaling sound to come out of you. It caused J to look at you and study you for a moment.

"What would happen..." He suddenly grabbed at your arm but you were quick. The tip of your gun barrel met the skin between his open shirt. He grinned.

"But it's not cocked." He looked down, baring his teeth alittle.

*Click*

A smile crossed J's face.

"Ooh, Now you've got me." You could feel him pushing against the gun barrel as he lifted his hands up.

You smirked, uncocked the gun and tapped it against his chest in a flirtatious manner, "I'm only high...not an imbecile."

You started to put the gun back into its hostler.

"Here. Here." He gestured for you to get it back out.

He stood up and so did you. He waved an empty beer bottle and took the gun from you.

Chunking it over the balcony, he aimmed and tried to shoot the bottle.

"I think you missed." You couldn't keep a straight face.

Down below the bottle hit the ground missing a man only by intches. Mo and Frost came running out, after hearing the gun shots. You and J were laughing.

"Christ." Frost said grabbing his chest.

You started laughing even harder. And J grinned.

"Now, I bet Jonny could do it. He's a good shot." J flamboyantly gestured for Mo and Jonny to come over.

"Here. Give it a go." J handed Jonny the gun, picked up a full bottle of beer and chunked it over.

He missed too.

"Oh, Jonny my boy, you're rumbish like me." J laughed.

Jonny hesitated before laughing at the comment.

"It's the gun." Jonny handed you your gun back. "I need to use mine. That Kimber..."

You jumped in, "hey hey hey...No dirty talk bout my baby." You patted your gun after rehosltering it. "She's a little moody..."

"Oh, it's a she." Mo laughed.

"Of course she is." You laughed.

"And she's the best fuck...you up you'll ever have." You made a finger gun at Mo.

J laughed.

Mo nagged Jonny as he demanded another go, using his own gun. Laughing, J threw another bottle over the balcony. Sure enough, Jonny popped it.

Laugher exploded from his triumph.

"I'll be damned." J patted Jonny on the back.

J then gestured for you to get ready. You smirked as you held up the 'holding on' finger and took a big drag of the joint, you were still nursing. You exhaled, smiled and nodded. J moved next to you and threw the bottle. You followed the bottle in the air with your gun for a split second and *pop* it exploded mid air. Immediately, before laugher could explode from Mo and Jonny, J threw another bottle. J was already smiling as you hit it, mid air, just like the first one.

J slapped both of your shoulders at the same time then started rubbing them, "And that why you're my..."

"Puddin'?" Harley's voice rang out sweetly.

"...favorite." J finished whispering into your ear before turning.

Everyone had already turned their heads. Harley was standing, just in the doorway, nothing on but her underwear. Frost and Mo quickly turned their eyes away and immediately stopped laughing. It was difficult knowing what would flatter or offend, both J or Harley. So they always opted to show a respectable eyes down pose.

Making an annoyed face, "Put some clothes on." J barked out hatefully.

She tried to act cute for him, "Come back to bed, Puddin'."

He flashed a grin then allowed it to slowly fade. His lip curled over his silver teeth as she continued to stand there. J stretched his arm over your shoulder, resting his elbow on it as he gave her a threatening pointed of his finger. Harley didn't do or say anything, only obeyed. She quickly turned around and left. Only stopping to glance back after hearing J make a comment.

"There's a good girl." He shot out smugly.

Once the interruption was over, J continued to use your shoulder as armrest. Standing behind you, he stretched out his other arm out over your other shoulder. He was still on top of the world, riding his emotional high, joking around. Wrapping his arms around your head from time to time, cutting up and being goofy. You were very aware of Frost and Mo trying not to stare, so you tried to move on to and start a conversation about what needed to happen later.

"Guys. We need to-" J interrupted you as you started to talk.

"Wait, wait." J put his hand over your mouth, his tattoo made it look like you were smiling.

It made him laugh hysterically. You didn't return the laugher. Mo cracked up, knowing that you were probably irritated by the boss's action. He finally stopped, putting his hand down. You started to try and discuss the plans again.

"Mo, discreetly load whatever J wants into the van-" You immediately stopped talking.

J had his hand back in front of your mouth making, both Jonny and Mo, laugh again. J laughed with his head down, resting it against your back, between your shoulder blades. You reached up a started to pull his hand away. As soon as you touched it, he playfully slapped your hand away.

So you continued to talk with his hand in front of your mouth, "unless we're forced to leave early, just be ready to go tonight. Keep yoourrrrammmmm."

His hand was pressed against your mouth, keeping you from talking. J was fully entertained, laughing hard.

"Shh. Heehe. Shh." He barely could get the 'shh' out between his laughter.

J dropped his hand and he lifted his head. He whispered into your ear, so only you could hear him. You rolled your eyes and shook your head no with a smirk on your face. Again he whispered into your ear, he was laughing as he whispered. Once he was done you exhaled loudly.

You mumbled, "unbelievable" under your breath.

Frost and Mo were very uncomfortable, as they clearly watched the flirting between you and J.

"Do it." J nudged you with his whole body, "Tell it."

You bit your lip before starting.

"Three criminals were fleeing the cops, making their way in to a potato warehouse, they each saw 3 sacks. So they each hid inside one." You repeated what J had whispered to you.

J was still behind you, arms still rested over your shoulders. He kept his head and face nuzzled against the back of your head so he could continue to whisper more into your ear.

You repeated, "The cops walk in and seeing the first sack, they kick it. Hearing a "Meow, meow" the cops say "oh, it's only a cat." So they move on."

J was snickering and giggling as he continued to whisper what he wanted you to say. Swaying his body back and forth alittle, causing you to move along with him, he urged you to keep repeating him.

"Kicking the second sack, the cops heard "ARF, ARF." "Oh! This one's just a dog." So they quickly move on to the third sack."

By now you were repeating it with a little more banter.

As the boss started to whisper the punchline to you he adjusted his position, standing up straight and putting his arms down so he was just standing extremely close behind you.

"Kicking the third sack, the cops hear "Potaaato, Potaaato.""

You quickly pressed your lips together and shook your head at the cheesy joke with a bad punchline. You didn't laugh.

J was rolling, always very amused at hearing a bad, yet classic joke. The others were laughing from the mixture of the joke, J's reaction, your reaction and just the general awkwardness in the air.

Suddenly J's laughing stopped very abruptly. He wrapped his arm around your neck. He was wide eyed and pissed.

"You're not laughing." He flashed a quick grin and then curled his lips over his teeth. "I guess you know a better joke."

You were nerviously thinking. Mo and Frost had abruptly stopped laughing too. It was always best to follow suit with the boss.

He stood there motioning for you to spit out a joke with his hands, "Come on, come on. Let's here one."

You closed your eyes and a huge smile grew across your face. In fact, you laughed a little as you thought about it. J's face was full of anticipation, he even moved his lips as you start to speak.

"Crowbar." It came out smooth.

J's reaction was nearly epic. He immediately threw his head back and crackled loudly. Then he bent himself over, laughing hard. Straighting himself up he slapped you playfully on the back and stomped his foot.

"I've been out done, boys." He said, talking to Jonny and Mo.

He waved his finger at you, "We should have left that one for Batss. Ha-HA."

Once the commotion died down, you finished discussing the plan for fleeing with J, Mo and Jonny. Everyone was on the same page and knew what needed to be done. You announced your intentions of getting some sleep and left the boys on the balcony. You found your way to one of the three empty bedrooms in the apartment. You didn't fall asleep right away, you half expected and half hoped to have J visit. When he never showed, you let yourself draft off to dreamland.


	9. Bats Do Fly

You tossed and turned, sleeping something awful. Maybe it was a sign of what was to come. Your dreams were of a terrible nature, which is something you rarely dealt with; nightmares didn't seem to haunt your sleep, ever. Waking up, you rolled over and checked the time. It wasn't even 10 in the morning yet. You flipped and flopped, making yourself comfortable and quickly fell back to sleep. The sound of a text coming in, woke you up after a few more hours of worrisome sleeping. This time you welcome the distraction and tried to forget about awful dreams that had been on repeat. You found your phone on the side table, rolled back over to the middle of the bed and started reading.

 **J:** Time for your close up (there was a picture attached)

The picture turned out to be a new wanted poster for you, that the GCPD had issued that morning. You weren't the only lucky s.o.b. to get a new posted. Harley and Frost, both got newly updated wanted posted also. You studied yours for a moment. They had used a mug shot from nearly ten years ago, for a long time on your older wanted posters, but this time they had updated your photograph. It was from the charity event, some camera shot or video still. You were slightly smiling in the photo and had a tiny bit of blood splatter on your face. All the normal stuff you would expect was listed: age, height, weight, eye/hair color, race, known aliases, known accomplices. However, for the first time under known accomplices they had also listed "possible former member: Maroni Crime Family".

You stared at it for a while before texting the boss back.

 **You:** They're expecting us to be on the move, if they're prepping the public to be on the look out

Almost immediately, after sending the text the bedroom door opened and closed quickly. J wasn't overly worried, you could tell by his mannerism. He pulled a chair up to the bed, sat down and kicked his feet up on the edge of it. The first thing you noticed was his lips. He wasn't wearing any lipstick, still his lips were slightly stained a pale pink from having it on earlier. Next your attention was drawn to the lack of jewelry, he wasn't wearing any chains or rings, he was also bare footed. He'd taken off his jack and dress shirt from earlier, only wearing his dress pants with no belt. His amazing pale physique was hard not to admire.

You sat up, right in the middle of the bed, keeping the covers tucked up around you. J was looking at his phone still, having not said anything. Suddenly, the urge hit you, you had to use the restroom. You did just wake up after all. You crawled to the opposite side of the bed, away from the boss. Got out of the bed, said nothing and hightailed to the small bedroom bath. Relief. You washed your hands. Then you opened the bathroom door and looked out. J was still on his phone. So, leaving the door open, you washed your face, getting the sleep out of your eyes. You brushed your hair, brushed your teeth, freshen up like anyone would do after sleeping. Right as you were finishing up, another text came in on your phone.

You walked out and saw J peeking over his phone, eyeballing you. You leaned across the bed to hunt for your phone. You tossed around the covers finally finding it.

 **J:** *link*

You looked over at him. He was peering over phone, still eyeballing you.

"Can't you just tell me-" He interupted you.

"Read it." He ordered.

So you clicked the link and started reading. The headline read: Batman's Joke. This is what had been keeping J so enthralled when he first entered the room. You sat down on the edge of the bed and then purposely stretched out across the bed, ever so seductively. You read the first paragraph, and immediately knew J was probably pissed. You glanced over to him, he was watching you as you read the article, gauging your reaction. All you had to do was give him a certain look and he would knew exactly how you were thinking. He returned your look with a nodded, for you to keep on reading. Once you were done, you tossed the phone aside and stared ahead, thinking for a few moments. You could feel J's eyes on you. You turned to look at him, he made no effort to hide the fact that he was letting his eyes move across every inch of you. His lip was slightly curled up in a half smirk as he did so.

"Firstly, J, you don't even know if..." You watched him watch you.

"Let me stop you right there." He gestured with his hands for you to stop. "I know, I know."

"He's just trying..." He made a quick fist and then released it. "...to get my temper flared ...Well its working." He had started panting our of anger and his hand moved through his hair.

Like always, running his hand through his hair was a tell-tell sign that he was getting angry or frustrated, it was a quirk of his. One that you had always found charming.

"If it's a little foreplay he's looking for...Oh-oh-oh, Daddy's..." He suddenly jumped out of the chair and clapped once very eccentrically, "...coming out tonight baby!"

"That's what they wants...For you to get all worked up, do something questionable and dumb." You pointed out the obvious. "Calm down J. You know the cops are behind it."

He shot you a nasty look and rested one knee on the bed while he pointed at you. As much as he hated it, you were one of the few people who would tell him what he needed to hear, instead of what he wanted to hear. He acted like he was going to say something but instead held it in. He was not pleased and curled his teeth over his lip. Then suddenly he was calm.

He removed his knee from the bed's edge and sat back down in the chair. He cracked his neck, keeping a sinister look on his face, "You're right...yoouu'rrre right." He said it like it aggravated him that you were right.

He lowered his head but maintain eye contact with you, "I'm going be smart about next move."

"So this means...what? you've change the plan?" You were still perched up on your elbows, looking up at him.

His expression changed instantly, like he'd remembered something.

A genuine smile crossed his face, "I've got something I want you to do."

Then tilting his body to one side for easier access, he started digging in his pocket. As soon as he pulled his hand out, he tossed something over toward you. You sat up, keeping one leg stretched out and pulling the other one up to your chest, as you leaned forward to fetch. As soon as you picked up you knew what it was. A simple, tiny black box, it was a trigger switch. He held up another one just like it and wiggled it between his fingers, before tossing it toward you too. You reached for it while J pulled out, yet another switch. He flashed his silver grin, then tossed the third switch toward you too.

You returned his grin as you collected them off the bed, "Anything else in that pocket?"

He immediately held up the 'wait a minute' finger and reached back into the same pocket. You playfully rolled your eyes, waiting to see what he was going to pull out. It was a piece of paper, that he slowly unfolded then turned it around and held it up for you to see. You stared at it for a moment before realizing that the crudely drawn "diagram" was what J wanted to do in response to the reaction from last night. You crawled to your knees, reached out across the bed and took the paper from snickering started off soft and quickly grew the more you looked at the sketch of the boss's idea. He'd drawn "plans" to place explosives around and near some of the nearby could immediately tell what his idea and plan was, he'd humorously gotten his point across. He'd even taken the time to sketch out him and batman fighting, you found it charming. No doubt, he had drawn it while in a great mood.

"Call it my Ode to Batsy." His grin widened.

"Everything is in motion, I've got all the goodies on their way, here..." He pointed his finger down and poked it into his leg to emphasize 'here'. "...Right now, as we speak."

"Once the fun starts Batsy will come a runnin'...I'm giving you one of the remotes, in case something happens you can..." He kicked his feet back up on the bed and threw his hands behind his head with his elbows up in the air, "...Finish my dirty work." He grinned smugly.

"You're the ace up my sleeve." He added while stretching one of his arms out and gesturing toward you.

"Damn right I am." You said while crawling off the bed and taking the switches with you. You walked to the nearest table, which happened to be the night stand and dumped the remotes on the table.

Your comment made J smirk. He tilted his head while he ogled you the entire time you were up, he hadn't been shy about allowing his eyes to scan over your half dressed body. You had been very aware of it too, perhaps you were guilty of allowing more skin to show than necessarily needed to show. I couldn't help it, you had reached a point that all you could think about was being with him.

"Come're" He order. You responsed by looking in his direction and lifting one eyebrow.

He was no longer grinning, instead he wore his 'predator picking out a prey' lustful expression, while he watched you. He motioned with his finger, curling it up, for you to 'come here'. For a moment you froze then you started to ushed yourself around the bed toward him.

"Ah ah ah" He moved his finger back and forth, then pointed to the bed. A smirk crossed your face, you were more than willing to obege, this is what youd been hoping for. It didn't matter that less than 24 ago you had just had him, you craved more. You shot a look toward the door. Then your eyes went right back to him.

You got back on the bed, resting on your knees. He immdediately started beckoning you to crawl across the bed to him. Before doing what he wanted, you slowly pulled the t-shirt, you had slept in, off. Making sure to take your time, lingering as you stretched your arms up, peeling the shirt up and over your head. You causally dropped it behind you, while maintaining eye contact with him. Then, on your hands and knees, you slowly proceeded to crawl across the bed toward him.

As you arrived, J kicked his feet off the bed and sat up on the edge of his chair, leaning into you. His hands cupped your jawline and cheeks. As he ran one of his thumbs over your lips, you couldn't help but kiss at it, taking it into your mouth. He bit his bottom lip with excitement, watching you suck his thumb. Pulling his thumb from your mouth, you playfully snapped at it, causing him to give you a playful growl that turned into a deep chuckle.

He slipped his hands into your hair as he stood up, pulling you off your hands and onto your knees. You were almost nose to nose with him, while he intensely gazed at you. He tugged your hair to the side with one hand, pulling your head back while he seductively drug his hand down in the entire length of your body before bring it back up and wrapping it around your throat. He squeezed just enough to show control, causing a lustful moan to escape your lips.

He grinned as you moaned, "What's my baby want?"

He tugged your hair a little more and tightened his grip on your neck, "Tell me..."

You smiled.

His breathing was heavy, "I want to hear..." He nudged his face against your face, "...you it ask me for it."

As if it was on que, there was a knock on the door. As your eyes popped open and you glanced to the door then back to J. He grinned at you and nodded 'no', as you tried to pull away from him. He tightened his hold on you, making sure you knew you were going nowhere.

The knock came again.

With a growl, "What?" He suddenly called out, not taking his eyes off of you.

"Yeah, it's me boss." Jonny answered through the door.

"Come in." J ordered, smirking at you.

The door opened and Jonny entered into the room. He took a few steps into the room before freezing. At first glance, it was clear that one of two things were possibly occurring: sufferance or seduction. And either way Jonny wasn't sure what to do. Try as he might, he was unable to stop his eyes from moving over the situation. The boss had you by the hair and neck, on the bed, in your underwear and completely at his mercy. It was quickly apparent from the mannerisms of both, you and the boss, that everyone was a willing participant. This only made it more peculiar for Jonny.

Jonny nervously spoke, "Um, the stuff you asked for, boss... The guys are bring it up, right now."

"That's fine, Jonny, my boy." He turned his head just enough to address Jonny, while still maintaining his provocative eye lock with you.

Your connection with J was all that mattered now, his pull was magnetic, keeping your attention locked on him, making you exclude the outside world. You couldn't help but flash him a small grin, that he returned with a smile and tightening his grip on you.

"You and the boys can start getting everything ready." He quickly looked at Jonny and then back to you.

He then released his hand from around your neck and pointed toward the remote switches laying on the night stand.

"There's three of them there. Program each remote to set off 100, no, 150 different separate remote detonations to all go off at the same time."

As he gave the instructions to Jonny he still continued to maintain eye contact with you, slightly pushing his hips against you. He slipped his hand out of your hair and back to cupping your jawline.

"Once that's done, I'll handle the rest myself."

He did the same with his other hand, cupping the other side your your face. He was breathing heavy with his lips parted, as he started rubbing his thumb over your lips again. You slid your hands up along his forearms, pass his wrist, until they were on top of his hands. Your fingers slipped between his as you cuddled your face gently into his hands. There was something Incredibly intimate about the moment keeping you completely enthralled.

Jonny stood still. His eyes bounced around the room before landing on the remote switches that he had to retrieve. He quickly walked over and picked them of, shooting glances over to the two of you and quickly started back toward the door. J had you pulled so close that your body was flat against his. He watched as you snuggled your face in his hands, allowing it. For a second he was lost in the moment, then he snapped out of it.

"Jonny." J called out, causing him to stop. He knew Jonny was uncomfortable and was prolonging his discomfort. "You and the boys..." He pushed his hips into you, "...have an hour."

J's comment provoked you to grab him by the waist of his pants and give them a small teasing yank.

He grinned incredibly big and mouthed "ooh."

He spoke to Jonny again while keeping all his focus on you, "Better make that two hours instead."

J immediately leaned into your ear and whispered, "The things I'm about to do you..." He grinned.

Jonny quickly put his head down and started to leave again.

"Oh and Jonny." J spoke loudly again. He moved his hands down from your face and gripped your waist, pulling your hips to him. "Shut the door behind you."

J didn't wait for Jonny to get out the door, before he shoved you downand crawled on top of you. His hands followed the cruve of your legs as you wrapped them around him. He leaned in, grabbed your chin and pushed your head back. He went right for your neck, growling while kissing and biting your skin. You pushed your hips into him, feeling his erection, prompting him to sit up on his knees and removed your underwear. Resting one of your legs against his body, he started at your ankle and caressed all the way down your leg until he'd made his way between your thighs. He grinned as he started teaseing you, studing your every move. Your back arched from the pleasure of his touch. Stopping, he suddenly got off the bed.

He stood at the edge of the bed to undress. As he began to remove his pants, you sat up and immediately started helping. Once they were unbuttoned, you slipped your hand between his underwear and flat abdominal, slipping them down over his slender hips. You wasted no time wrapping your hand around his erection and guiding him into your mouth. He threw his head back while moaning from the pleasurable sensation of your warm mouth. His hand went for the back of your head, taking a huge handful of your hair. He allowed you to control the rhythm and speed, letting his hand and arm move with the bobbing of your head.

Looking down, he moaned out "fuck", as he watched you take him over and over into your mouth.

He could no longet wait, he ordered you, "Turn over."

Only you didn't stop right anyway. Knowing that he wanted you, only made you continue with more purpose, causing him to moan even more from enjoyment.

He finally pulled himself away from you and manhandled you over into your hands and knees. His hands moved over your back and around you. He pulled you up onto your knees, so your back was flat against chest. His hand explored your body, while he growled deeply into your ear. His growling made you melt. You reached up and grabbed his hair, pulling his head close enough so you could turn your head in order to kiss him. You paused as your lips barely brushed his, causing him to grin. He teased you with the possibility of a kiss, making you smile.

Suddenly, with passionate and vicious, you found him plunging his tongue into your mouth. His hands reflected the same craving and longing, as he groped and squeezed every inch of your body. He wrapped his arm around your chest, causing you to cringe loudy as the fresh burn on your collarbone was squeezed mistakenly. He moved enough to accommodate your injury but continued holding you against him. He forced his hand between your thighs, causing you to gasp from pleasure. You could hear him panting into your ear as he became more and more vigorous with his hand movement between your thighs. He had you at his mercy, your gratification literally in his hands. He moved his other hand up to your jawline, forcing you to turn your head toward him, so he could kiss you again.

Once he'd broken the kiss, he pushed you down, over into your hands. He ran his hand from the nape of your neck, down the length of your spine then playfully popping your butt cheek. He immediately started to tease you with the tip of his erection before slowly pushing into you, restricting his own movements just to drive you wild. You pushed against him, begging for more. He slowly started making long, deep strokes; pushing every inch of himself into you. Once his rhythm was set, he leaned over you. Grabbing hold of your body trying to keep you close.

You reached up and took his hair into your hand, tightening your grip with every thrust into you. You wanted him to know that he was driving you wild. As each thrust became more sensual, the roughness slowly turned passionated. His moans were huskily and deep, as he enjoyed himself.

With a gentle adjustment here and a slight shift of weight there, the two of you slowly moved. Laying on the bed tangled as one, the both of you were on your side. J was still taking you from behind. You were wrapped in his arms, he nudged you with his head, encouraging you turn your head back toward him. His panting ended as he locked his lips onto yours. He acted as if he craved your kiss, not letting it end, maintaining it at all cost. The kissing was slow and sensual, matching the same vigor and speed, that the two of you were slowly fucking each other with. You returned his slow thrust with the same passionate and prolonged movement. There was something affectionate and romantic happening, something that hadn't occurred between the two of you before. J buried his face into you, nibbling and sucking your ear lobe, as the two of you grinded together as one, making sure to accommodating the other's movement.

Your thoughts were lost, caught up this intense moment. You turned your head, your lips trying to connect with his again. Suddenly, with a shift and lift of your leg. He wrapped his arm under your knee and held your leg high. His strokes became forcful and quicker, causing you to gasp as he literally found his way deeper into you. You reached up behind and grabbed his hair roughly. He immediately gave you an extra hard thrust out of enjoyment, teasting you. The harder he thrust, the more you moaned, biting your lip out of pleasure. You felt him slow, then he came to a stop. Your eyes opened as you felt him shift and roll slightly over. He was on his back and immediately you crawled on top of him. You didn't wait to see if it was what he wanted; you didn't care.

Your legs straddled his hips, as you went down, becoming one with him. Your movement was superb, immediately causing him to goan and lift his hips, begging for more. A smirk crawled across your face as you looked down at him. He stared back up to you, squeezing your waist, holding tightly onto you. His hands moved up your body, grabbing your neck on either side and pulling you down to his lips. You gladly found yourself, leaned over him, being kissed again.

Pulling yourself back up, you began to move, rolling your hips up and down, back and forth. Your rhythm was steady as you threw your head back, enjoying the building of pleasure. Suddenly, you felt J sitting and wrapping his arms around your body. He growled as he embraced you, kissing your neck at the same time. He bucked under you, setting a new rhythm. You gladly followed his lead and started to ride him with more speed and force. Wrapping your arms around his neck and shoulders for leverage, you tangled yours fingers in his green hair. Kissing him roughly as you pulled his head back. You broke the kiss but didn't pull away, keeping your lips touching. His panting was incredibly heavy from being so close to climax. You could feel his nails digging into your skin as his body tensed, his arms and hands tightened around your body, holding you in place as he released into you. Your hips rolled against him a few more times as you tried to prolong his pleasure. You could tell by his expression and movement, he was done.

J kept his eyes closed and maintained his tight hold of you. He wasn't ready to let his prey go. You smiled at him when he finally opened his eyes. He studed you as you brushed his hair back, out of his eyes and face. You began to dismount him but he grabbed you and manhandled you over onto your back.

He hovered over you, resting his weight on his knees and supporting himself over you with his arm stretched out straight, pushed into the bed, beside your head.

J used his free hand and positioned you how he wanted.

"Ooh, I'm not done yet." He teased as he allowed his eyes to explore your body.

He grinned while grabbing your neck playfuly but aggressively. He tilted your head back and turned it slightly, exposing your throat to him. His thumb pressed against your joker card tattoo as his lip curled over his silver teeth with a smile. Moving his hand over your skin, he let his hand travel down your body, tickling you as he did it. His eyes taking in every inch of you as his hand finally found its way below your waist, to your finish line. Your legs parted, your back slightly arched as his hand moved between your thighs. His slow, steady hand movement quickly put you in a state of pure pleasure. The more your pleasure grew, the wider his eyes got. Knowing and seeing your enjoyment was caused by his manipulation of you was a thrill for him. He began to pant while watching your gratification grow. As you approached climax, the look in his eye grew. He was relishening in his ability to drive you wild.

Suddenly, he stopped, causing you to open your eyes. He was adjusting himself, you could see that he was very much aroused again. You had no time to prepare, gasping loudly as he filled you. Instantly, you started moving your hips against him, it felt too good not to. Using his hand, he began to simulate you again, controling everything. After a few minutes, he had you back on the edge of ecstasy. And like before, all movement stopped. He gave you a teasing grin, he was purposely prolonging your enjoyment by denying you it, all at the same time. He started again, bringing you right back to the edge but this time he let you go over.

You gave yourself over to it, enjoying every minute of J's control of your organism. You laid there under him, your senses in a complete state of over simulation. You were high from it. His hand rested flat against your belly, he could tell when your body finally relaxed. You could feel him still inside you, he was throbbing to take you, not moving but pushing against you. Once he knew you'd regained your composure, your eyes connected with his and you gave him a small smirk. He immediately started fucking you viciously, with long hard strokes. You gasped from the oversitution, bitting your lip, grabbing the sheets to brace yourself. He quickly sat up, grabbed your legs with dominance and flipped you over. You couldn't help but smile. He slammed himself into you while holding your waist tight. His aggressiveness and force caused your whole body to bounce, the harder he thrust the more you bounced and giggled.

Suddenly, he was flipping you back over you as you continued to giggle.

It was low, almost growl like, "come here to daddy."

He grinned, pulling you back under him. Your giggles made him playfully.

"You think that's funny?" He was randomly tickling you.

You fought back enthusiastically, grabbing his hands trying to make him stop. His laid down on top of you, holding your hands and arms down playfully trying to stop your wiggling. The frolicking abruptly stopped as he slipped his fingers between yours, actually holding both of your hands in his. The connection between the two of you was undeniably intense, he pushed your arms up, over your head, while still holding your hands. The look on his face sent a wave of uneasiness through you the pit of your gut. There was something in his eyes and written across his face that you had never witness before, a tenderness that he didn't fight against.

He kissed you quickly, giving you a peck on your lips, then a peck on your cheek, then your nose, neck, as he showered you with tender kisses you allowed yourself, for a spilt second, to believe that this is what it felt like to be loved by the Joker, your J. Your giggling had unexpectedly stopped from the through that had crossed your mind, causing J to pause and study your face. You gave him him a beautiful smile, realizing he was looking at you. He slammed his lips against yours, you kissed him back, allowing every emotion you felt to be expressed. The kiss didn't end, each of you only allowing only small breaks for air, here or there. Each break immediately followed by a need to continue the kiss. This went on until the passionate kissing quickly turned incredibly rougher, due to the building desire each if you had.

You wanted him, no, needed him again, as if you'd never had him in the first place. He undoubtedly felt the same way, as he allowed his hands to cup of face, then tangle in your hair as he continued to smother you with a kiss. You got catch up in the moment, biting his lip. He loved it, it drove him wild, causing him to immediately shift his body and began fucking you again. The world melted away until it was just you and him, rolling around on the bed, having crazy, fierce, rowdy sex.

It got so hot and heavy, so quickly that finding yourself completely off the bed when it was over didn't surprise you. The two of you laid on the floor tangled in the bed sheet, out of breath, arms and legs still embracing, each of you drenched in the other's sweat, both sharing the same look of satisfaction. Finally J lifted his head from where it was rested on your chest and looked at you. Nothing needed saying. A small curl of his lip, with a half smirk said it all.

* * *

After a hot shower you were ready to face the world. It was hard to hide the satisfaction and bliss beaming on your face. You almost floated as you walked into the kitchen to join everyone. The guys were still working diligently on getting the last few explosives programed to the remotes.

They paused for a moment, giving you a chance to inspect and critique their progress.

"Any problems, boys?" You cheerfully asked.

There wasn't an immediate answer. Mo, who on most occasions actted as your right hand, had elected to allow one of the others to answer. You immediately knew Jonny had said something to him about what he'd witness.

Ollie spoke up, "so far, so good."

"Very well." A smile of approval and a nod to continue was quickly returned to them.

Jonny acted embarrassed, unable to actually look you in the eye. Mo, on the other hand, gave you a dirty look, scalded you with his lowered brow of disapproval. You immediately shot a lifted eyebrow toward Mo. You knew how he felt about, what he dubbed, the 'fadal attraction' between the boss and you. He feared a terrible ending would be your fate. You didn't care, not felt no shame or guilt by what was happening between you and J. Beside, it wasn't what it appeared to be on the outside, people like you and J could have sex with out any emotional repercussions. For you, all those pesky feelings that people developed with having sex: affection, sentiment, attachment or love...you'd already harbored those for J, for a very long time now. Because of your history, they were stronger than any emotions that would have been developed by romantic means. When it came to J, you were more hundreds times more dangerous than any lover could be. He was your commander, your maestro. As for J, it was a lot simpler. Emotionally, he only loved himself. However, he did recognized the need and benefit of having certain people over others near to him...Being one of them, that's the most one could ask for.

You paid Mo no attention, and peeked into one of the huge duffle bags. Your eyes lit up. It was full of a special kind of cartridge, loaded with the tiny explosives. The cartridges accommodated a shell casing that contained an explosive, a mirco-detonator and mounting gel. Basically, tiny little bombs that could be shot out of a gun, that would stick to anything. Pretty much, some fun toys taken from Batman's playbook. After examining the fun goodies, you picked up one of the special modified guns for the set-up. You looked it over like a kid with a new toy. Lifting the gun, you put the scope up to your eye and checked out how everything felt in your arms.

Looking through the scope at different things, you pointed it toward the empty door, J suddenly appeared. You froze with a smile before slowly lifting your head up. The sight of you and the gun caused a grin to creep across his face. For a moment, the two of you made eye contact, before moving on to what was happening in the kitchen with the boys. Walking over, he was overly excited to see everything coming togetting. He roughed up Jonny's hair with his hands as he walked by him, then patted him on the back. J browsed over everything a few times. Even answering a few of the question some of the guys had, but still being vague.

"Gimme." J reached out and gestures with his hands for you to hand him the gun.

Taking the gun from you, he immediately loaded it and shot at the wall, grinning as a glob of gel stuck to the wall. Half of the guys jumped.

"Christ, boss!" Ollie said. "This stuff is moody."

J immediately pointed the gun at Ollie and shot. He fell back as he grabbed his shoulder.

"Shut up." J said with a straight face then grinned in the most sarcastic manner. He snarled at him before loudly laughed. It made the other nevrous.

Ollie got to his feet and tried pulling the glob of gel off his coat. It was a mess. He cringed from the soreness already in his shoulder.

J tossed the gun back to you and nodded for you to head out, "Let's get started." You wasted no time, walking out onto the balcony, J followed behind you.

"I can get both of those buildings from here." You gestured toward them. You pointed to another building across the way as you stopped at the balcony's railings, "I'll have to find a good spot over there, in order to get these little suckers on this building like you want."

Suddenly, you felt J behind you, literally pressed up against you. Both of his arms reached around you and gripped the railings beside you, so you were pinned between it and him. You rested the gun's butt against your belly and then turned your head slightly to see what he was up to. His face was nearly touching yours.

"A good spot, where?" He looked out, over the neighboring buildings.

You used the gun to pointed back toward the building, "Up there. The roof will be too high for me to get the lower floors but a balcony, about halfway up. I'll be able to place every explosive right on the mark for this building."

"Shhhh..." He swayed his hips as he lifted one of his fingers to his mouth.

He leaned back and chuckled a little before placing his hand back in the railing and resting his chin on your shoulder, "don't scare the kids."

"They get antsy..." He lowered his voice. "Blowing up the building we're in?" He was being playfully and sarcastic. "that's...insane, ha ha." You laughed with him.

The two of you turned your heads when you heard Mo come out. He sat down one of the duffle bags, full of the loaded cartridges and looked right the two of you as J continued to sway, cutting up with you. Mo ignored it, turned and went back to bring out more stuff.

You lifted the gun and looked through the scope. J gave a growl and placed his hands on your hips, he enjoyed the sight of a gun in your hands. Lifting your head and lowering the gun just a tiny bit, you spoke softly to J.

"This..." You moved your hips with a lot more speed. "...Is gotta stop." You couldn't help but smirk as you said it.

J threw his hands up, like he'd been told to 'freeze' and stepped back. Then gestured for you to go ahead with a small nod. You gave him a wink and started to lift your gun again. You never made it, Mo came back out. He had an another bag full of explosives and a gun for the boss. J was all smiles as Mo handed him the other modified gun. You watched as he began to load the gun.

"Mo, get those binoculars." You casually ordered him.

You took your time as you began to fire, hitting your mark. Mo looked through the pair of binoculars and gave a thumbs up. The explosives we're sticking to the windows like hoped. You began to aim and fire with a nice speedy rhythm. Hitting your marks everytime. You stopped for a reload and watched J shoot a few shots. It put a smile on your face to see how much enjoyment he got from wreaking havoc. As you watched, you noticed he was aiming the gun far from the discussed target. He lifted his head after firing and looked at you.

He slightly lifted his eyebrow, "I didn't like their patio furniture, hahaha."

You continued to place the explosives, it didn't take that long to get both buildings done. You gathered everything needed to complete last building. Mo volunteered Ollie to go with you, saying he could use the experience.

"How good is aim?" You asked Ollie.

"It's respectable." He answered back.

You gave him a smile and finish collecting everything that needed to go. You finally took the gun apart and stuffed it into one of the duffle bag. J walked back into the room and held out one of the remotes.

"Keep it safely on you." He ordered. "An hour and everything is going be connected." You nodded to J as you slipped off your shoulder holster and put it into the duffle bag too.

"Hey kid..." You pointed at the gun on Ollie's side.

He quickly took it off and you tossed it into the bag too. The plan was to just walk right into the building, unnotice. You had a few floors that you could shoot from that would give you the clearance needed to reach all your marks on J building. You took a bag and threw it over your shoulder, while Ollie did the same to the other bag.

Ollie actted a little nevous around you while to two of you rode the elevator down. He had only been working with maybe 6 months. He'd replaced Lee, the rat. The young kid was proving to be a hard and trust worthy worker. You looked at him and gave him a wink.

"I won't bite. Relax." You were trying to help him chill out.

Ollie looked half amuse and serious at the same time, "No offense but yes you will. I've seen it. Id just prefer to stay alive."

You couldn't help but laugh. About that time the elevator stopped. The doors opened, the two people standing on the other side saw it was you and just as if it had been J, apologized and wouldn't get on the elevator.

"See, thats amazing to me." Ollie said, after the elevator beganning going down again. "There just as afraid of you, as they are of the boss."

"Only by extension, remember that." You gave him a serious look.

"You do realize that Gotham is fearful of you and him, not just him. The two of you are legendary." He was being honest.

You didn't say anything, in fact, you ignored him for a while. As the elevator came to a stop on the buttom floor, "here we go. Just follow me."

Ollie nodded and did so. The two of you managed to casually walk across the street and right into the other building and onto an elevator. You hit floor 25. As the door started to close someone grabbed the door, causing it the bounce back open. It was a young couple who immediately started actting nevous. Between looking back and forth at one another, they also eyeballed the duffle bags. You had already noticed the women holding a new paper with all of the gang's mug shots on the front.

Finally the young man spoke of, "Y-you two live in the building?" You smiled and shook your head 'no'. Ollie said nothing.

"Whats in those bags?" The guy was trying to make innocent small talk.

Suddenly you kneeled down and opened your bag. You pulled out your shoulder holster. The young couple immediately went fearful. You stood up, put it on, while giving them a smug smile the whole time. Then you went back into the bag, pulling out a silencer for your gun. The woman started crying.

The young man tried to plead, "look, we didn't see anything."

You slowly put the silencer on your gun. Once it was on, you stood there with the gun pointed at them. The women cried even louder. You put of finger to your mouth and told her 'shhh'. Once the elevator stopped on the 25th floor you motioned for Ollie to get out. Then you motioned for the couple to follow him. The four of you walked down the hall until you arrived at an apartment door. You knocked on the door.

An older man answered the door, "can I help you?"

With no hesitation you shot him. The young couple let out a cry of horror as you and Ollie forced them into the apartment. Once completely inside, you also shot the young couple.

"Go make sure that no one else is in the apartment." You ordered Ollie.

You immediately went to the balcony of the apartment and checked to make sure it was going to work. It was fine. You carried the bags out onto the balcony and started getting ready. Finally Ollie reappeared, having only found and killed one other person. You pulled out a pair of binoculars and scanned over J's building. You couldn't help but look at the bosses balcony.

To your surprise there wasn't anyone out there. You put the binoculars down and started getting the gun ready.

"Which building are we-" Before Ollie could finish you were nodding toward J's building.

"Oh, ok." He didn't seem to worried.

"We're not blowing the whole building." You laughed a little, "its more like a message for the bat."

Ollie was looking through the binoculars now.

"Can I ask a personal question?" He put the binoculars down.

You had the gun together and started loading it, "how personal?"

He started looking back through the binoculars, "You and the boss. Y'all are an thing, right? An item."

Suddenly, you cocked the gun loudly, "no."

Ollie quickly put the binoculars down and looked at you, "Sorry, no offense. Its just some of the guys talk about it. No body knows what exactly is going on there."

"Harley's his squeeze." You replied and lifted the gun.

You couldn't help but smirk to yourself as you looked through the scope. You scanned over a coupled of windows then looked back toward J's apartment. As you looked, it was apparent why Ollie had brought this subject up. Harley and J were back on the balcony. Mo was there too. You watched for a few moments as Harley wrapped her arms around J's neck and he shoved her off. He lifted a pair of small binoculars and started quickly scanning the balconies in your direction, you couldn't help but smiled as you watched him. You didn't wait for him to spot you and the kid. You got started, shooting the explosives where J wanted them.

* * *

You were in a panic as he answered the phone, not even waiting for him to say anything.

"The fucking cops are here J!" The phone was hung up as soon as you finished.

Something wasn't right, you continued running as fast as you could. You were on the way down in the building adjacent to J's building. You had been forced to leave the rest of the work, with hopes that Ollie was a good enough shot to get the rest of the bombs on the right windows. You stopped in the lobby and scanned what was happening outside. The cops were unitizing, getting ready to start their accent to get the Joker and the rest of you. They just hadn't realized that they had arrived early and interrupted what was now turning into a get-away distraction instead of a bat call. This was about to become one hell of a party.

With the cops showing, someone had tipped them off or the bat had figured out where the Joker was and let good ole Commissioner Gordon know. You needed to get into the building and up to J. As far as you knew Mo, Jonny and Harley were still with him. You ran out of the side lobby door, using the one furthest from the cops. You decided to take a chance, the odds that the cops would be so focused on what they were about to do, was pretty high. At that point, J could have walked out and they probably wouldn't have noticed him. You shot out the door and ran across the street, weaving in and out of cop cars and the crowd of lookie-loos that were starting gather.

*BOOM*

The explosion was loud, making everything on the street shake and rattle. Everyone on the street froze for a few seconds before starting to run. You immediately looked up. The smoke was so heavy you couldn't see anything. Suddenly, glass and metal started coming down around everyone. You started moving faster. Not away from the building but toward it. You were fighting against the crowd of people pouring out of the building. At least it was making it easy for you to go unnoticed; nothing would keep you from getting to him. You could heard people screaming and crying around you. Some of them had started pointing up.

A young teenage girl screamed, "it's the Joker, he did it!"

You stopped and looked up again. The explosion spelled out HA. It was beautiful, you smiled and continued to run. The show was just beginning.

Finally you made it to the doors of the building. You plowed your way through and started for the lobby. You felt a tug as someone grabbed your arm.

"You can't go up there. It a mess." A cop yelled at you, over the sounds of panic.

You jerked your arm free and smiled at him. He immediately recognized who you were and pulled his gun out.

"Freez-." You pulled your gun and shot him in the head.

You continued to move, running. By now another cop was pointing his weapon at you and telling you to 'freeze', having witnessed the murder of his follow officer. You were unfazed, simply shooting at him and anyone else who happen to be too close to the cop. You ran for the stair well, you couldn't risk getting stuck in the elevator. People were flooding out of the floors and into the stair well. They were in a hysteria causing a stampede, making it almost impossible for you to fight against the flow of panic. Not thinking twice, you fired your gun into the air. The chaos ceased for a moment.

"Move, get out of the way." You started running again, climbing each step as fast as you could.

A brave soul tried stopping you when they reconzied you as the Joker's lieutenant. He quickly found himself falling 5 floods down. The higher up you got, the crowd started thinning quickly.

By the 10th floor you were walking, having ran out of air and leg power.

"Fuck." You stopped to catch your breath.

You continued climbing. After another couple of floors you exhausted. You cautiously went through the exit door and enter into the floor. You quicky found the elevators. Everything seemed to be in working order so you got in and hit 43. Up it went. F15. F16. F17. You were still struggling to catch your breath.

"Shit." You mumbled to yourself as you leaned against the wall of the elevator, trying to slow down your breathing and heart rate.

Then it happened. The elevator stopped on F27.

You stomped your foot out of angry, "I fucking knew it."

You started hitting different buttons. Hitting the emergency door open button, the door released, you were able to push the doors open enough to fit through. Luck was on your side. The elevator was only three feet from having been completely level with the floor. You scrambled out and ran down the hall, finding your way back to the stair well. Up you went. You tried calling J's phone again. He didn't answer. Next, you called Mo. As the phone rang you stopped and listened. Taking your phone from your ear, you could actually hear the phone ringing in the stair well. You followed the sound. Finding his discarded phone two floors up. This was not a good sign. You grabbed the phone, put it into your pocket and continued up. Step by step.

It took a few minutes before you made it to the 43th floor. The apartment was on the 43th, top floor. You ran to the apartment, it was apparent a fight had occurred. The wall of windows in the living room were blown in and glass covered the floor. Room by room, you found no one. You grabbed more bullets and made sure every gun and clip you had was full as you continued through the apartment. The first thing that caught your eye in the kitchen was a puddle of blood. Your eyes immediately traveled up and landed on Mo. He was hanging there, rope around his waist, hands bound. He appeared to be knocked out cold. This had Batman written all over it.

You cut him down.

"Hey. Hey." You held Mo's head, slapping him gently in the face, trying to wake him.

You looked down seeing a black piece of metal sticking out of Mo's side. You quickly removed it.

"Mmm. Ah." Mo moaned. The pain make Mo wake up.

You looked down at the batarang.

"The Bat's here." You mumbled before tossing it into the wall, across the room.

"Mo. You need to tell me, did the bat take J? Where is he?" You were calm on the outdide but panicked deep down, you cut the rope off of his hands and feet.

"Harley had the bat headed toward the roof. The boss was waiting for them." Mo gasped and moaned between words.

You put your hand on top of his head to comfort him, "Keep pressure on it. You gotta go. The cops are about to start swarming this place. Can you walk?"

Mo shook his head, "I think so."

You helped Mo to his feet, "The skywalk on 6th floor. It goes to the building across the way, on 12th street. Nothing's rigged to blow on that side, stay away from everything else. Understand?"

Mo nodded as he struggled to stay on his feet. You checked his gun and made sure he had bullets. Then you handed it to him and sure he had a good grip on it.

"Good luck." You winked at him, "I'll see you around."

Mo smiled and grabbed your upper arm. He gave your arm a squeeze and nodded at you.

You nodded back and hurried on your way, headed toward the roof. Two more flight of stairs and you were there. You had to kick the door open. You waited, looked and listened before running out onto the roof. You didnt want to walk into a trap. You cautiously made your way out, keeping your eyes and ears open. The wind was blowing hard, creating an whistling sound, besides that it was extremely quiet. The eerie kind of quiet that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. It was nearly twilight. The dark black smoke from the burning building was rolling up, causing an unnatural dark glow to the surrounding sky. You looked around in a panic. Suddenly, you heard it. A sound that made your heart skip a beat, J laughing. You climbed a latter to a sub roof and followed his laughing, coming around the corner you saw them.

Harley was the first one you laid eyes on. You ran over to her, she was out cold. The Bat had put a pretty good whooping on her. Frost was close by, he was tied up unable to move. You glanced up and saw the bat engaged in a fight with J. Your attention went back to Frost. Pulling out a knife, you quickly cut one of his hands free and left him to do the rest. J was your priority.

He was a bloodly mess. His shirt was ripped and covered in his own blood. His hair was in his face and blood-soaked, like his shirt. The bat had him by the collar, holding him while he repeatedly hit him in the face. J laughed manicly at the bat with every punch. Finally, the bat let him go and J went down to his hands and knees. As the bat went for him again you popped him with a few bullets. It caused him to stumble as they bounced off of his bullet proof suit. You knew that they wouldn't penarate his suit, but it got his attention and thats all you needed. To take his attention off of J to give him a chance.

"Leave him alone, bat." You yelled it loudly over the wind.

Keeping your gun on the bat, you slowly continued to walk closer to them. J was on his knees now, laughing even more.

"Well, Batsy." J spit blood and wiped his mouth, laughing to whole time.

He stumbled to his feet, pushed his wet bloodly hair out of his eyes and flamboyantly stretch his arms out, "I believe we all know each other." You made sure to keep your gun on the bat.

"Don't shot him." J pointed at you and ordered.

"All of you are coming with me." Batman spoke without emotion.

You continued to walk toward the bat and J, keeping your gun on Batman as a precaution. You didn't care what J wanted, you'd kill the bat if it came down to him or J.

"Joker. Nobody has to die-" Batman was interrupted.

"Nobody ELSE...Haha. Nobody ELSE has to die." J grinned.

J pushed his hair out of his face again and waved a finger at Batman, "Don't forget about all those poor people who I've already managed to..." He used his finger and made a cutting motion across his throat.

Batman cringed, barring his teeth out of anger. He immediately went after J.

J held up his remote and teased batman with it, "No, no Batss. You don't want another boom, do you?"

"You're a monster." Batman said.

"Ohh, oooo. Ha-Ha." J was put his finger on the remote, teasing before removing it.

"No, I don't think so, not yet. Besides..." He gesture toward you. "I'm not only one who's got a trigger finger."

Both him and Batman watched as you pulled out your remote. J's laugher erupted loudly. You smiled at Batman, still keeping your gun on him.

"Why, Joker?" Batman asked.

"Why...Why?" He wiggled his finger back and forth at Batman. "Oh, no no, Batsy. The question isn't why?"

He clapped once, "It's why not!"

He flashed his silver grin, before spiting out more blood.

Batman turned back to you, "Why follow this madman? Walk away now and we can see that you get help."

J pulled out a concealed knife, "I don't know what's making me more jealous, Batss. You trying to sweet talk your way into that beautiful head of hers/his or you not trying to seduce me instead." J was threatening.

You were holding up your remote, watching J. He winked and gave you a nod. You hit the button. The explosion caused J to toss his head back and laugh. Batman ran to the edge of the building.

"NOOoooooooo!" Batman yelled.

He was angry when he turned back around. A sudden pop, and a batarang knocked the remote out of your hand. He looked at you and then to J, making a choice who to get first. He went for J.

The two of them when at it. You tried to aim for a shot but it was choas and you didn't want to hit J. You let your eyes scan over the roof, looking for anything of use. You saw Frost, he was carring Harley, who was still knocked out and limp in his arms. He was watching the choas. Your eyes went across the roof top, egde to egde. Suddenly, an idea started formulating. As the Bat beat the shit out of J, you ran to the edge of the building and looked down. Looking back to the fighting, J stood no chance. The bat had almost won. You knew what you had to do.

"Batss!" You yelled. He was holding J up into the air, hitting him. "Hey Batss!"

When Batman finally noticed that you were near the edge of the building, he paid attention.

He stopped mid punch, holding J in the air while he watched you.

"You got close, Batss." You nervously looked down, over edge and then started to back up. "But you know I can't let you take him. You know I can't."

You suddenly noticed J's switch. It had been knocked out of his hand too and was laying a few feet away. You pointed your gun back at the Bat and slowly walked over and picked it up.

"You leave me no choice, Batss. But first, I'm going to need you to put him down." You waved the remote, threatening to use it.

J was still being held up by batman. The two of them were looking at you. You continued to hold up the remote.

"I'm betting you won't let me die." You yelled over the roof.

"That's your weakness Batsy." You glanced back and forth from the edge to them. "It always has been. You have an over abundant need to save people. Even us bad guys."

They both could see what you thinking about doing. J was grinning, almost excited to see if you were really going to go through with it.

"You get him outta here, you hear me!" You yelled out to Frost who still had Harley in his arms.

Then you did it.

You started running toward the edge.

"No! Don't!" Batman screamed. A growl came from batman as he literally threw J as far as he could across the roof top. J rolled and tumbled before stopping.

Batman had already started running toward you.

You jumped as far from the edge as you could, throwing yourself off the building's roof. Batman followed a few second behind you. You knew he would do it, come after you. Giving J a chance to escape.

It was quite as you fell. Peaceful. Everything moved slow. The wind tickled your face, making your close your eyes.

Suddenly, you felt everything in your body jerk. The jerk was so hard it knocked the breath out you. Then you felt someone holding you. You started laughing before even opening your eyes. You knew the bat couldn't let anyone die if he the ability to stop it. The two of you swung there for a second.

You yelled, "Batman."

Smiling at him you mouthed the word 'boom'. And with that you hit the remote you still held on to.

Batman yelled, "nooo." As he covered the two of you with his cape, protecting from the blast. The explosion blew out the windows and walls of the building across from the two you. The three explosions spelled out HA HA HA in fire and blown out windows.

"It's a love letter, Batsy." You said it between your laughing.

Without a warning he hit you in the face, knocking you out immediately. He shot another rope and made his way back up to the roof with you. He tied and cuffed you up. The Joker was gone. You had managed to save him from the bat and the cops. The price was your own freedom. The bat walked over picked up your limp body made his way down off the building. You came to before he turned you over to the cops.

You started laughing as soon as you woke up. "Did you get him?" You nagged.

He ignored you.

"It's ashame about all those people who-"

His fist slammed into the wall beside you. "Why!? All those people, why?"

You smiled at having gotten under his skin, "people like you, Batss, won't ever understand."

"Take this scum." He literally threw you at the cops.

"Oh, hello commissioner." You smiled at Gordon.

Then you stopped and a grin formed. "Oh and Mr. Akins."

You winked at him and taunted, "you're going wish there had been a phone call, Micheal." Your smile was bloody.

They manhandled you into the back of a police car. And immediately took you to the nearest precinct. There you were left in a holding cell. You didn't have to make a call, your lawyer, along with everyone else in Gotham had been watching the news. He showed up promptly. After speaking to him, he left. You found yourself being harassed by cops. They were getting more and more pissed as the casualty number continued to raise. It didn't help that you were the only one to be brought in on an arrest. When a cop would suggest "they" got you, you were quick to remind them that it was the Bat you'd tangled and that they didn't actually have anything to do with you being there. It had gotten you sucker punched, twice. You knew what you were doing, you could easily toil with most of them.

After a day, the time came, you were officially charged. You were booked. You were searched. Given a shower. Dressed in a lovely shade of orange, cuffed and transfered to another holding cell. After demanding to be told what was going on, you discovered that the wheels of justice were turning fast, at least for you. Special arrangements had been made to have a hearing at the court house as soon as possible. They were very careful about transferring you. Once at the courthouse you were cuffed to a table in a meeting room, your lawyer was waiting in the room.

"Is that nesassary?" The lawyer asked while gesturing toward the cuffs.

The cops looked at him as if he was crazy. Once the cops had left the lawyer got down to business.

"They're pulling out the big guns. Out of all the chargers they've thrown at you the only one that matters is the Terrorism charge." The lawyer was looking at his files.

"They've made it clear that no deal will be offered." He shot you a look. He knew a deal was a waste of time, you would never talk.

He went on for a while, you didnt listen half the time. Finally you interrupted, "Have you had any contact with him, yet?"

The lawyer knew you were talking about J, afterall, he was J's lawyer too. He shook his head 'no'.

You couldn't have been there with your lawyer for longer than an hour, when the cops came in to retrieve you. Your lawyer protested under the terms that the court system hadn't given you enough time to prepare for the hearing. It fell on deaf ears, of course. They cuffed your hands and feet, then rudely pushed and shoved you toward the courtroom. As you stood there listening to the judge and lawyers have it out, a discussion about your life that you were given no input, you found it humours. The time came, you were told to stand. This was only a hearing, no sentence would be given, you knew that. You also knew there was no way a bond would be set, but you were in no way expecting what came next.

The judge spoke, "The court is ordering mandatory forensic evaluation including, competency and sanity evaluations of the defendant. The court is assigning forensic psychologist, Dr. Leland of Arkham Asylum to conduct these evaluations. Judgement for the defendant's ability to stand trail will be made 28 days from now." Your lawyer smiled.

"Your honor, this defendant has shown an intensive history of violence with no record of mental illness. The people feel..." One of the young junior DA attorneys tried voicing their objection.

The judge interupted, "This defendant jumped off a 40 story building. A psych evaluation will be done." The judge hit the gavel.

You started laughing to yourself. Your lawyer quickly started talking to you. He figured a stay in Arkham was better than a sit in Blackgate but you knew better.

You spoke soft to your lawyer, "By the time they're done with me there, I will be crazy."

The bailiff was already asking you to stand. He uncuff you from the table and then recuffed you hands.

"You get me transfered." You gave your lawyer a dirty look as you were being lead away.

You were lead back to the small holding cell, located in the back of the court house. From there, you were taken and while under heavy guard, loaded into the back of an unmarked, armored prisoner transport van. Once you were securely restrained in the back, you were joined by three armed guards. It was clear they feared the Joker may try to conduct some kind of rescue effort. You knew better, J was a self-preserving narcissus, of course you loved that about him. However, under no circumstance would he be mounting a rescue. There were only three ways you'd ever see him again: 1. you got released or 2. you planned your own excape or 3.J felt that you'd become a liability and performed your execution himself. As upsetting as this should have been, worried you were not. You were no mere amateur, this was just another day for you.

The van pulled off. The swaying back and forth caused you to fell motion sickness, making the ride seem like it was taking forever. It was a relief as the van finally came to a stop. You could hear the guards talking outside and after getting cleared through a check point and van started moving again. It came to another stop soon after. It was quite, the van's engine was turned off, you assumed that meant you were at your destination. You eyes narrowed as the back of the van opened and the bright light hit your eyes. You were underneath a covered dropoff/pickup area, surrounded by 18ft chain link fence. The guards slowly escorted you through two sets of doors, you were chained by your hands and feet, it made you take babysteps. A small group of people were waiting for you. The two males, who appeared to be orderlies, while the other two, who were women, wore white coats with name tags.

"We will take custody from here, thank you." One of orderlies said. "Please remove all chains and cuffs."

The armed guards hesitated, "You guys sure thats a good idea? You know who this is."

"Yes, we do and yes, please remove all the restraints." One of the white coated ladies spoke up.

The guards did as asked. They started to roughly removed your cuffs as one of the doctors gave you a big friendly smile, "Hi! I'm Dr. Joan Leland and this is Dr. Tompkins. We will be in charge of your care while you're here, y/n. Welcome to Arkham Asylum."


	10. Truth, Lies & Fairy Tales

**While in Arkham... Life keeps on going...**

 **Day 5**

"How many?" Batman's voice rang out from the dark.

The animosity and rage was showing on Jim's face, it went from pink to red in a matter of seconds, "Ten officers and four visitors, Christ, there was a mother and child there only filling out paperwork."

His jaw tensed, and his lips pressed together, "Who were they after?"

"Not who..." The commissioner shook his head, "...what, what were they after."

Jim finally looked up at Batman.

"They killed everyone in the precinct so they could break into the evidence room and steal everything that belonged to that damn Maroni, working under the Joker." Jim sounded like he didn't even believe what he was saying.

"Hell, 95% of it was personal property that we took off of her/him at the time of the arrest. Nothing incriminating." The commissioner looked puzzled.

Batman knew why it had been taken, "He's getting everything ready."

"Ready for what?" Jim had the same tried looked on his face he always did.

"It sounds like he's planning on a homecoming." The Bat was already turning to leave.

"Impossible. We've got Arkham sealed up tighter than Blackgate right now." Jim shouted so the Bat would hear him.

"He'll find away, that won't be a problem for the Joker." Batman said under his breath.

* * *

 **Day 8**

The room was trashed, furniture turned over, bullet holes threw everything. Frost's blood was on the floor and covered J's knuckles.

"You find a guard, a doctor, a janitor, a cook, a delivery man...I DON'T CARE!" J had Frost against a wall, hand around his throat.

His demeanor suddenly went calm and he released Frost, "You find someone who can get you into Arkham. Understand?"

Frost gasped for air while J's other men looked on, slightly fearful.

J turned from Frost then quickly turned right back to him, "I put you in charge..." J ran his hand over his hair, "...and if you valve your-"

"Puddin'" Harley walked in interrupting.

J stopped and stared, giving Harley I look that suggested 'this better be good.'

"I can help." She said with a smile.

A grin crossed J's face, then he suddenly, without warning turned and hit Frost in the face. He went down, holding his nose, blood freely flowed from between his fingers and down his shirt.

J shook the feeling back into his hand, as he walked over to Harley.

"Now. It's your turn." He grinned at her and cupped her face into his hands.

"Tell me, how are you going to get me mmyyy y/n back, hmmm?" He tightened his grip very violently before shoving her back with a push.

"I know someone who owns me a favor." Her voics atill sounded bubbly even if she looked glum from the violent treatment.

"Oooh oh, you better hope..." He waved his finger at her. "Well, let's just say I'm in no mood to be disappointed."

Harley tried comforting him, only to receive an elbow and shove away, "Get off me. You've better be getting to work... you're on the clock and time's a wasting. 20 days."

She looked slightly confused and disappointed at the same, know exactly what he meant. He was treating her like an employee and not his "pumpkin". She didn't like this feeling, not one bit.

* * *

 **Day 9**

"Jim. I have to." Batman was emotionless, like always.

"I can't. I just can't allow it, at least not right now. They have just reached the tail end the state evaluations. It would corrupt the whole process and we can't afford to mess this up. If we have any chance of getting this one to work with us." Gordon was not going to be changing his mind, unless...

Batman continued to press.

"You know as well as I do, that this one will remain loyal. That's why I need to speak with him/her." Batman scoured, "I have a feeling he will be coming for this one."

"Who? The Joker?" Gordon became on edge. "If that's the case we need to make sure we're ready."

"A trap." Batman suggested.

Gordon's worried face looked up, "Could it work?"

"Maybe." Batman was cold, "Jim I have to spe-"

"No. And that's final." Gordon ordered. "I mean it. If I hear about you..."

He was already gone. The window open, wind blowing.

* * *

 **Day 13**

"Ahem." Dr. Leland cleared her throat, trying to get your attention, you were staring at a fly. It was bouncing itself against the double panel glass on the small window, trying to get out. You couldn't help but feel the fly's desperation.

"Y/n, Please answer the question." The doctor repeated.

You hesitated for whatever reason.

"Nothing leaves this room. You know that. Everything we're doing is designed to help you." Dr. Leland tried to convey her actually longing to help. "Now that the forensic testing is complete, these therapy session are for your benefit...Allow you the opportunity to explore any feelings or issues you may have. If you refuse to answer my questions, that's your choice but Id really like to help you."

You shifted your eyes back on the doctor, studying her. After a few moments you nodded for her to go on. She smiled and nodded in return.

"So, your name is Y/N Maroni, correct?"

"Yes." You nodded with your answer.

"Your age?"

"Old enough." You smirked.

The doctor looked down and started making notes:

- _definite, vague_

"I have a question. How did the test turn out?" You smiled then whisper, "Whatcha think, am I crazy or not?"

Leland looked up for her notes, "I don't care for that word, crazy. It implies-"

You spoke up before she could finish, "Implies chaos, no control, right? And you think I have plenty of control over my actions, every single violent one."

The doctor quickly wrote:

 _-very manipulating_ _!_

Then she looked up and answered, "I think you were told from birth that violence was the answer to any problem, a means to achieve all. You saw it on a daily basis growing up, therefore have no way of understanding the moral or legal implication of its use."

"You just say a mouth full. So in other words, my family made me do it? Wanna be my lawyer, Doctor?" You smiled for a brief second before your face went straight.

The doctor studied your attempt to make the subject at hand not as serious. She say nothing, letting you speak.

"I know you've heard the stories, the rumors... that I killed them, my dear family." You showed no emotion.

Leland pressed her lips together before speaking , "The way I understood it was...your family was executed, for the sole purpose of another criminal organization taking control of the Maroni Crime Empire."

"For the most part, that is true." You barely showed any emotion.

She gave you enough time to continue, but you didn't. You shifted, wiggling your arms as much as you could, trying to stretch them. You were uncomfortable in the straight jacket you wore. The state had deemed you a level 8, one level under your boss, the Joker. Your violent personalty, weapon skill set, and lack of respect for human life made you among some of the dangerous in Arkham. However, unlike most, you had more control over your actions. Never the less, you still had be to be, for the safety of the doctor, fully restrained.

Leland sounded scornful, "The police believe The Joker...the very man you work for, had a hand in the killing of the Maroni Family...Your family."

A huge smile crossed your face at hearing the doctor said 'The Joker'.

The doctor tilted her head as she studied your reaction, "That doesn't bother you, I take it?"

"Not in the least." It was cold, a flash of angry shown in your eye.

"Do you think they deserved it?" She continued to study you carefully.

You kept your eyes on her too, "Yes."

"Why?" Leland tapped her pen softly against her notepad.

You looked over toward the small window, the fly was still beating itself against the glass. "We all deserve it , don't we? I suppose it's true that some of us deserve it more than others."

"Who...or...what makes someone deserve to have something like that happen to them? Dr. Leland shifted in her seat and crossed her legs.

You shrugged your shoulders and didn't answer for a long time.

The doctor started making more notes:

 _-Remorseful about family? doesn't appear to be on surface._

 _-Explore family history more_

 _-Positive,_ _very positive_ _reaction when Joker mentioned_

The doctor looked up as you started to speak, "Violence begets violence. Like you said doctor, I saw it on a daily basis. A monster raised a beast and then everyone is surprised when the beast's brutality out grows it cage."

Leland's lips frowned slightly, "And you consider yourself the beast?"

You eyes diverged back toward the window then down, "We all have our beast, don't we and the world...well she's a monster."

The doctor let her eyes scan the room. She couldn't argue, you could apply that theory to just about anything. It was just another attempt, by you, to make vague statements and bypass the actually questions. Clever.

"Lets change the subject, move away from your family. Ok?" You didn't make any sound or gesture to indicate you cared.

"Do you have any close friends? A significant other? A life outside the work-" The doctor stopped as you started giggling to yourself.

She watched you as you tilted your head toward the side a little, still laughing softly.

"What do you find funny about those questions?" The doctor asked being curious.

You took a moment to think about your answer.

You straighten your head back up. "You do have close friends?"

"Yes, I can't imagine life without friends. It would be lonely." Doctor replied.

You smiled once, "You keep thinking that, doc. Those friends would turn on you as fast as they could...say if you were in my position."

Leland shifted again, making herself comfortable, changing the focus back to you.

"Is it fair to say your personal and professional life are one it the same."

"That's accurate." You turned your head back to the small window and shifted in your seat.

"Would you consider your co-workers, friends?"

"Ha, not at all! Hee. You know the kind of people I work with. Come on doctor. Most them are just a sleazy as the next. Besides half of them don't last a week, you never get to know them. High turn rate in my line of work, you see." You smirked a little.

Leland was writing again:

 _\- Little trust in others_

 _-keeps emotional distance_

The doctor stopped writing and looked up, "But you're different."

You lowed your brow for a moment and turned to look at her.

"You have been with The Joker for years, in fact, you've been his 'general' the whole time he's been active in Gotham. Why is that?"

"What can I say, Im good at what I do. Killing people... Extortion..." You were staring down now, your mood clearly changed, having a smirk on your face. "Im loyal...you could say, to a fault."

Then you smiled, "Can you imagine the things I know? I bet the cops were pretty upset, not getting the chance to try and woo me out of them."

The doctor didn't look amused and ignored your statement.

She continued, "Loyal to a fault...So loyal, that you jumped from the roof of a 40 story building to keep your boss, The Joker, from bring apprehended."

She eyeballed your reaction, that was only a smile, "Hearing me say that, 'You jumped off a roof for your boss', doesn't sound odd to you?"

"Of course it does, it's crazy isn't it." You chuckled. "But, you see... I know how Batsy thinks. Allow someone to die on his watch? Never, a soft spot for us "bad" guys, that one has."

You smiled, "I was simply buying J the time he needed to escape."

"The jumping was what you wanted then? Not what The Joker wanted?"

You smiled at the sound of his name again, "I did what needed to be done. J always comes first."

The doctor went to make a note but stopped and continued.

"What about yourself? You don't come first?"

You didn't answer. Leland made a note:

 _-Clearly not suicidal_

 _-cares for Joker, possible romantic feelings?_

The doctor made a slight but unnoticeable sigh, "So you believe his life is worth more than your own?"

"In the big scheme of things, not at all, life is life. One's just as worthless as the next. But, you know us humans, we like to place more importance on certain lives...like the ones we connect with."

"Would he have done the same thing? For you?" Leland watched carefully.

You were still looking down and didn't answer right away. The doctor could see conflict on your face.

She repeated the question, "Would The Joker have jumped from a building to allow you to escape?"

"Of course he'd jump." You looked up at her, "For me or anyone else, no. But would have jumped? Absolutely!."

A warm smirk crossed your face, "You see doctor, I know J well enough that I'm under no illusions who or what he is, but that doesn't change the fact that I-" You abruptly stopped yourself and shift your eyes away.

Leland's eyes brighten, while she studied, like she had just figured something out, making a short adjustment to her notes:

 _-cares for Joker,_ _possible romantic feelings?_ _In love with Joker_

"You know, I think that's enough for now. Times almost up anyway." The doctor smiled.

You looked up quickly and smiled.

"We could make things so much easier, you go on and tell'em I'm not a looney bird. I can get the hell out of here and you can help some of the real crazies." You commented with a smile.

The door buzzer went off and Cash came in with one other guard.

The doctor smiled at you, "I will see you in two days, y/n."

Cash uncuffed your feet and helped you up from your chair. Once standing, a walking pair of cuffs were then replaced around your ankles and you were lead down the hall. Cash was one of the good guards, he never harassed the patients, always looked out for there wellbeing. Which was more than you could ask for in a place like this.

Another door buzzer cleared the path for you and the two guards to continue down the hal. The closer you got to the elevator that went from level to level, you could hear the screams of patients. It made you cringe. Another door and another buzzer and the elevator was with sight, along with the full assault of noise. You closed your eyes and waited it out, _how could J stand it here for so long?_

Once the elevator started moving a relief washed over you, your level might have been in the bottom of this hell hole but at least it was quite. The noise of the upper levels, where you'd been for the first week, was nothing in comparison. It was enough to drive the sane, insane.

The doors opened to more guards. This floor held the level 8, 9 and 10 patients, deemed too dangerous for general population of the asylum. Door after door, had numbers of each patient. At the end of the first hall, stood room 0801, unknown. You knew that was J's room, you yourself had helped break him out before. It remained empty when he was here. You couldn't help but smile to yourself as you and the guards passed it.

"We keep it ready for your boss."

"Dalow, enough." Cash replied.

You flashed a look at the guard, Dalow. Then smiled to Cash, "He's just trying to peacock, Cash."

A shove from Dalow caused you to stumble slightly. You stopped.

"I said enough!" Cash ordered.

Dalow snarled, "Move it, you." He shoved you again.

Cash quickly stepped between the two of you, ordering Dalow to walk ahead a few steps. Then he allowed you to continue to walk. Dalow arrived at your cell door, #0704. He unlocked it and went in to cleared it for your return. Cash waited outside the door with you. Once he was done you walked in turned and Cash started uncuffing your ankles, next he ordered you to turn and he started unhooking your straight jacket. You remained quite and complaint until the door was shut.

"Dalow." You called out.

He appeared at the small window in the door, "what?"

He quickly moved back seeing you near the othe side of the door.

"I just wanted to let you know, when I kill you, it'll be quick. I wont hold any of this against you."

"That's easy to say when there's a door between us." Dalow replied.

"Just...wait." You smiled.

Dalow hit the door with his baton, causing Cash to yell, "Dalow! Enough!"

* * *

 **Day 15**

You failed to get any sleep that night or the night before, Dalow made sure of that. Your eyes were encircled with dark rings from the lack of sleep. You hadn't been sleeping well to began with, and now with Dalow coming by on a regular basis and knocking his baton against your door, making sure to wake you, it became nearly impossible.

"Not sleeping well?" Dr. Leland asked.

You barely smiled, "No. It's the noise. Doesn't suit me. I miss the sounds of the city."

Leland made a note:

 _-may need_ _sleeping aid_

"I want to start today by asking you some more questions about your family."

You started shanking your no, "Listen doctor, Im in no mood to discuss the trash that was once concerned my family. Bottom line, they're gone. I don't care. Move on."

"Alright, that's fine. I'll ask this then, is there anything you want to talk about?"

"You want me to do your job? Lazy, aren't we." You smiled.

"Ok fine, lets talk about your boss then, The Joker." Leland watched you closely.

You immediately perked up. Ready to listen.

"You clearly have a connection with him. When did you first meet him? Before or after his accident?" Leland asked.

You smiled largely, "When did I meet J? No, no that doesn't matter. What does matter is that: We did meet. And it's been... Let's see, how would you doctors put it...an unhealthy relationship of codependent enabling."

You snickered, "In other words, its been great fun."

"You call it a relationship, what kind of relationship do you have with him? Professional? Personal? Romantic?" Leland flipped her pen back and forth.

You lowered your brow, "Yes, yes and hmm, sorta." Shrugging as you said 'sorta'.

Leland made more notes:

 _-opening amits to romantic(?) relationship with Joker_

The doctor continued, "So am I to understand, including the professional relationship of helping him run his empire...you and The Joker have explored or pursued an intimate relationship, correct?"

You stared the doctor down as she spoke, knowing that she thought the path to your behavior was the feelings you harboured for J. You smirked a little as she finished.

"You have to understand, a relationship isn't what the boss and I have. At least not in the traditional sense, doctor. It's an unrequited attraction, that we choose not to acknowledge unless the moment's just right. I really have no idea how he feels about me and he has no idea how I really feel about him." You eyeballed Leland as you spoke.

She stared back, nodding, urging you to go on.

"Don't get me wrong, J knows I'd gladly do anything for him, not because I have to but because I want to. And that fuels our dependency."

"That sounds like love to me." Leland added quickly, gauging your reaction.

"Love? Hee." You clearly found that humourous.

"If it's not love...What is it then? You called it dependency, yes. So you need each other, that's a form of love."

You staryed to get restless with where this was going, so you intentionally made a lewd comment. "You know, I don't think he's every fucked me the same way twice, is that love, doctor?"

The doctor didn't say anything, she stared at you for a moment then started writing:

 _-Attempts to hide feelings about Joker under the guise: job, meaningless sex_

 _-However, there are no misconception about who and what the Joker is_

 _-Will freely commit any act to appease him,_ _dangerous_ _!_

"I think you hide how you feel about him out of fear..."

You made a loud groan and rolled your eyes, "Oh, what do I know, maybe it is love."

"Now you're trying to manipulate, by giving me the answer you think I want to hear." Leland scoured you.

She leaned toward you, removed her glasses and asked apprehensively, "Are you afraid that if you admit you love him, that means he can hurt me?"

You shifted back in your chair and wiggled your arms in the straight jacket. You shutdown, not looking at the doctor for a long time and never answering the question. Leland made a few attempts to get you talking again but oncd it was clear you were done she simply allowed you to listen to the radio.

Once your time was up, you were taken back to your cell.

* * *

 **Night 15**

J was pacing back and forth, he was just manic enough that he couldn't sleep. The sheet of his bed were a mess, wet with sweat and balled up into piles. The evidence box from the police station was on the bed, the few things you had on you at the time of your arrest were pulled out and tossed on the bed. J had clearly been looking at them, even listening to your music library.

His phone was ringing, he ignored it, while continuing to pace. Once it stopped, repeated missed calls showed up on his screen.

The room he was in was well decorated but neglected. The ceilings were tall and the windows large, it was clear that at one time this had been a grand mansion. White dust cloths covered most of the pieces of furniture around the room. The curtains were outdated, along with most of the patterns and prints on the walls. There was an layer of dust on ever surface that hadn't been used in the pass few hours. It was possible hideout that had gone unused for many years.

When he finally stopped pacing, he sat down on the edge of the bed. His arm rested on top of the open box, picked up your gun and studied it again. A smile formed on his face before he tossed it aside. Reaching into the box, he pulled out a set of brass knuckles. Slipping them on, he made a fist before tracing the engraving 'Violent Delights'. Another smile crossed his face as he flipped his fist and traced the other side's engraving, 'Violent Ends'. J remembered when he had it made for you, the memory seemed like it was from another life. Leaning over, he put his elbows on his knees and rested his head into his hands.

There was a conflict raging inside of him: he was torn. It had completely been a gut punch for him when he couldn't move pass your absence. He suddenly found himself realizing that the tangible need or want (he wasn't sure which one it was anymore) to have you around was a personal desire and not solely professional. He knew on a professional level, you and him made magic happen. You played a major role in his success, he knew you had helped make him what he was, Gotham's greatest crime boss. The conflict stemmed from, that while he had been taking extra liberties with your willingness to please him, somehow it had turned into something more than just fun. He had been tring to persuade himself differently until the possibility of never seeing you again had actually made him feel physically ill. He would no longer fight something that felt so right.

A knock on the door made him cringe.

"What." He snapped.

The door cracked and Ollie appeared standing in the doorway holding a phone, "Sir, phone. Its Frost, he needs to speak with you."

J kept one arm rested on his knee, reached with his other arm and gestured for the kid to bring him the phone. Ollie nervously made his way across the room, giving J the cell phone. Before J answered it, he stared blankly ahead for a moment.

"Bring me something to drink." He ordered.

Ollie hurried out.

J put the phone to his ear, "Yeesss."

He listened for a moment as he continued to look at the knuckles.

"Good. Im on the way." He hung up and tossed the phone aside.

He sat there for a while staring ahead, then he stood and started boxing everything of yours back up. When he was done he looked down at his hand and kissed the top of the brass knuckles before pulling them off and tossing them in the box.

Ollie was standing at the doorway, drink in hand, waiting for the right moment to announce himself. But he didnt have to, J was already heading toward the door.

"Grab the box, we're going to have a little chit-chat with someone from Arkham." A grin appeared on J's face, "And bring the whole bottle, we're going need it."

* * *

 **Day 19**

You cut the shower off and toweled dried, using more time than you normally did. Dalow had a creepy way of watching your every move, giving you no privacy but today he wasn't on duty. In fact, he hadn't been there in three days. A young guard who'd you never actually seen before was standing in for Dalow. So you took full advantage of this, wasting as much time as you could before having to be locked back up in your cell.

Once you could no longer get the guard to allow you any more time, you were cuffed. You stared at a newly installed security camera, watching its blinking red light. Over the last two weeks it had been impossible to ignore the extra surveillance and security equipment being installed around Arkham. You hadn't paid mind to it, never once realizing that the extra equipment was being added on your account. An extra step to ensure the possible rescue attempt, that the cops and Batman assumed was going to take place, didn't happen.

You found yourself being lead down the same familiar hallway as always. You could see the turn at the end of the hall, where cell door #0801 was. The cell that was normally closed, wasn't today. It immediately caufht your attention and instantly made you think the worst. Had J been arrested and was on his way back to Arkham. To your surprise, the new guard turned and spoke to you as the two of you arrived near the cell.

"In you go." He gestured toward the open door.

At first you hesitated, standing in the doorway. Your eyes scanned the empty room, knowing J was the last person who called this room home. The walls were freshly painted but you could still see drawings and words carved into the walls. It was distinctly J's hand writing, most of it appeared to be gibberish, rants and raves of desperate person, longing for freedom. It made your heart hurt. Your eyes moved along the walls until the bare mattress and what laid on top of it caught your attention.

"Keep watch!" The sound of Dalow's voice made you turn quickly.

He came into the cell with purpose. He closed the door, leaving just a small crack. For a moment you didn't realized he was to be your salvation, instead thinking he was about to try and do something inappropriate, like try to beat or rape you. You were stunned as he kneeled down in front of you.

He quickly began uncuffing your feet, "The shift change happens in 20 minutes."

You could clearly see he had been beat pretty bad. He sported a busted lip, a terrible busted nose and a slightly fading black eye.

He stood up and started uncuffing your hands, "I have a map showing you the route that will lead you to the employee parking lot. Take the silver honda."

Once your hands were free, he handed you a set of keys out of his own pocket, "When the shift change happens, I will be on this floor at the main entrance. That's where you surprised me, then overpowered me, took my keys and gate card. It can't look like I helped."

He unhooked his security card off from his belt, also giving it to you.

"From there, you're on your own. If you get caught I won't be able to help." He was slightly shanking, clearly nervous.

You said nothing, only watching and listening. He looked down at his watch, "you got 14 minutes left."

"The Joker wanted me to tell you, 'It's time for you to go home'. He said you'd know what it means." Dalow looked scared and worried.

He quickly left. Leaving you alone and uncuffed, you immediately looked back toward the bed and walked over to it. A smile crossed your face as you reached down and ran your fingers across the barrel of your Kimber. Your shoulder holster, along with clips and bullets laid there, your brass knuckle were there too, you slipped it on, making a fist befor kissing the top of the knuckles. It was something youd always done, a habit. You felt, wanted, knowing thatJ had went out of his way to force Dalow to helping, sneaking everything in that you needed to escape.

You loaded your gun, filled the extra clips with all the bullets you had and holstered it all. Then you picked up the last thing J had made sure to get to you. There was a piece of tape around the cell phone, on it that said: 'Play me and you'll know how I feel'. It was in J's hand writing. You'd know it anywhere.

You put your eyebuds into your ears, pulled up the only playlist on the phone, It was humorously named and hit play. For a moment there was silence, then music started, a soft female voice started to sing out:

 _Baby, do you understand me now?_  
 _Sometimes I feel a little mad_  
 _But don't you know that no one alive can always be an angel..._  
 _When things go wrong I feel real bad_

 _I'm just a soul whose intentions are good_  
 _Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood_

You turned, pulled your gun, cocked it, walked out and started down the hall, smiling.

 _Baby, sometimes I'm so carefree_  
 _With a joy that's hard to hide_  
 _And sometimes it seems that, all I have to do is worry_  
 _And then you're bound to see my other side_

 _I'm just a soul whose intentions are good Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood_

As the music played you made your way through Arkham. Just as Dalow said he was at the first security door, you raised your gun and fired. He never saw it coming.

 _If I seem edgy, I want you to know,_  
 _That I never mean to take it out on you_  
 _Life has its problems, and I get my share,_  
 _And that's one thing I never mean to do_

 _Cause I love you_

You scanned he card, the door opened and on you pushed. With each door you cleared, with every pull of your trigger, with each lerson that hit the floor, the closer to freedom you got.

 _Oh,Oh, oh, oh, baby - don't you know I'm human_

 _I have thoughts like any other one Sometimes I find myself, Lord, regretting Some foolish thing, some little simple thing I've done_

 _I'm just a soul whose intentions are good_  
 _Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood_

You pushed the last door open and for a brief moment everything stood still. The moon was full and cool air was fresh. You quickly moved on, by the time you found the silver car, the alarms were going off and Arkham was going into auto-shutdown mode. The employee gate was already half way closed by the time you started the car. You backed up, stomped the gas, builting up as must speed as possible. Ramming the gate, the car forced its way just through. You could taste freedom. You even let a smile creep cross your face as you tore down the road that lead away to Arkahm.

The city was just there in the distance, all you had to do was make it across the bridge before it could blocked off. At this point you were ahead of the Arkham security, so the cops arriving was your only option for failure. You forced the car to go as fast as it could travel, desperately trying to make your way to freedom.

It happened fast enough that you didn't have time for fear. There was no time to brace for it either. When the car finally stopped flipping, you were unsure if what had just happened, had even actually happened. It took a few moments to get a grasp on reality. The car had somehow landed up right, everything seemed intacted, on you and the car. You only felt little pain, just some immediate soreness. Then you saw it, in the distance was the batmobile. It had slammed into the side of the car, sending it rolling. Batman's way of stopping you from escaping.

You glared at him as he got out of the batmobile and started walking toward you. Suddenly, you realized you had to get out of there or face going back to Arkham. Your first reaction was to try the car, but it was no surprise when it wouldn't start. You scambled to open the car door, it wouldn't budge. With your knuckles firmly gripped in your hand, you hit the window as hard as you could. With a second hit, you managed to bust out the window and crawled right out of it. Once on your feet you started running, panicking as the Bat closed in, you reached for your gun. It wasn't there, having been lost as the car rolled.

"Stop this!" Batman yelled out over the darkness. It only gave you more reason to run faster.

You continued moving until you had no where else to run. You had reached the edge of the island that Arkham was on. A small cliff, below it the Gotham River and Sprong River met, swirled and flowing together like two unstoppable forces. Across the way you could see the lights of, what you knew to be, Aparo Park. Glancing around you wanted to make sure Batman wasn't close enough to drive in behind you and "save" you. Looking back toward the river and the freedom beyond it, as far as you were concerned there was only one choice. With a deep breath and dose of courage, you jumped off the small cliff and seconds later, plugged into the river's cold, dangerous waters.


	11. Dreaming In Green

**Three Hours Later…**

Batman watched as the boats and helicopters, both police and civilian alike, searched the water. Given the flow of the water the decision was made to look for the your body along the south shore of Old Gotham. With it being nearly three hours now and the chance of anyone making out alive was slim to none. However, Batman didn't put it pass the Joker to have had a boat waiting for you; so Batman called in a few favors. Having some of his colleagues look in places that the cops wouldn't think of going.

Batman wasn't the only one watching; Gotham was watching the whole thing unfold on live TV. Everyone's favorite show, Gotham Tonight had been interrupted as soon as the news broke that someone had tried to escape Arkham, again. The fact that it was you, Y/N Maroni, made it bigger news than normal; the city was still on edge from the damage you and the Joker had caused two weeks earlier.

Another hour passed and the cops were starting to discuss a long term search plan for the next 42 hours, then after that they would call off the search. Most of the guys had money on the fact that you were dead and your body would wash up a few days later; others simply assumed you'd show back up in a couple of months. They figured you'd be back at The Joker's side. Neither was right.

 **Thirty minutes earlier…**

"Hey, Bruce." Nightwing's cheerful voice came over the radio. "Get down here; I'm west of The Sprang Bridge. You're going wanna see this."

Batman quickly made his way to where Nightwing's tracker was showing up on his computer. When he arrived, he was surprised to see Nightwing calmly sitting on a bench with, of all people, you. He had given you a blanket and you were wrapped firmly in it; trying to stay warm. Your hair was still soaked and your head looked like it had been bleeding pretty badly. Nightwing had put sprayed something on it to stop the bleeding and covered it in a bandage.

Batman approached with caution.

"There are two of you." You were scared not really knowing who or what the twoof them were, beside grown men in costumes.

Dick smirked at Bruce and nodded his head slowly.

"Has no idea? No clue. Doesn't even know where we're at?" Dick said it while gesturing toward you.

"That's not true, we're in a city." You answered.

"Do you know your name?" Batman asked while studying your mannerisms and responses.

You hesitated, fidgeting with your hands under the blanket. You didn't look up; instead you kept your eyes down at the ground like you were trying, with everything you had, to remember how to answer the question.

You never answered him; you continued to think. At times you would get suddenly very confused and act scared until you remembered that you had just met these men. It took a little coaxing but Batman finally got you to agree to take a ride with him. He told you he was going to get you some help, technically it wasn't a lie. He called Gordon and an old friend, Dr. Thompkins, to meet him at the Batcave.

"Batman. What's going on? This better be important." Jim answered the phone.

"Jim, you need to meet me as soon as you can. I'm headed to the Batcave."

"I can't do that, we've got a full on man hunt happening right now." Jim sounded tried.

"Jim. We have the Maroni and…" Batman hesitated, "You need to talk with her/him before reporting that you found her/him."

"Christ, Batman. This isn't going to lo—"Batman interrupted Jim.

"Jim. Meet us now." He demanded it and hung up.

 _"_ _Christ, it's always something."_ Jim told himself.

Dr. Leslie Thompkins was already waiting at the Wayne manor by the time you, Batman and Nightwing arrived. She was a trusted friend of Bruce and a medical doctor who had worked at Arkham for a while until opening her own practice. Immediately she recognized who you were.

"Bruce what's going on here? There's a manhunt happening right now and they're looking for…" She whispered and gestured toward you, "…you know who."

"Leslie, just talk to her/him. Tell me what you think?" Batman was vague.

"Geez, Batman." Dick cut in, "I found her/him knocked out, washed up near the Sprang Bridge. Doesn't seem to know…ahhh, remember anything about what happened."

Leslie's eyes widen, "Really, no memory. At all?"

"Doesn't appear that way." Dick answered.

"That's why I need you." Batman added.

"Well, boys, I'm not sure what I can do. Beside made sure that physical the head wound is taken care of and that nothing else is banged up…I can't fix the mind." Leslie was walking toward you.

"Hey, I'm Leslie. I'm going take a look at that bump on your head. Is that ok with you?" She was nice and personable.

You studied her for a moment, "That's fine."

She stated to remove the bandage that Dick had placed over the wound, "What's your name?"

"I think Maroni." You answered.

"Why is that?" Leslie stopped for a second while she listened to you.

Your eyes glanced to the man in the bat costume, "That man, he's called me Maroni a few times. So I just figured…" You shrugged.

Leslie, working with a smile, finished removing the bandage, "Well, you're right. Your last name is Maroni and your first name is y/n."

You repeated your name, silently to yourself.

The doctor cringed as she saw the wound under the bandage, "Ouch. That's one nasty cut you have there. How did you get it?"

You sighed and then cringed as she patted it with a disinfectant.

"I – I don't think I know. I mean, I have to right?" You looked at the doctor with teary eyes, "It's crazy not to know why but for some reason I just can't remember. And I can't remember why I can't remember." You were clearly becoming upset.

The doctor glanced over to Bruce and Dick who were watching; she widened her eyes and then looked back to you.

"Well, it's ok if you can't remember. We don't have to worry about that right now." The doctor smiled warmly at you, trying to comfort you.

"It's pretty bad. You need stitches. Do you know what those are?" She asked.

You laughed half-heartedly, "Of course I know what stitches are, I think." You stared down and started to think.

You knew the word but for the life of you couldn't think of what it meant. You became flustered.

"Look here." The doctor showed you what she was about to do. "I'm going to give you a shot first, and that's going to make the stitches hurt a lot less."

You smiled, "Now a shot is something I do know. " You point to the syringe on the table.

Leslie smiled, "That's correct."

The doctor got to work, numbing your head and stitching up the wound. It took seven of them to close the cut. Once she was done, Leslie continued to check your body for any more injuries. You appeared to have nothing more wrong with you; besides a nearly healed burn on your collarbone.

"Can you tell me how you got that?" The doctor pointed to the knife burn on your collarbone that you had received just under three weeks ago from J.

You reached up and felt of it; Leslie held up a small mirror, letting you look at it. You studied it for a few moments before moving the mirror to see the X tattoos on your neck. The doctor watched as you examined them; you studied the card tattoo on the right side of your neck, tracing the Joker on the card. Batman also watched as you rediscovered your tattoos. One by one you studied each tattoo, not sure what the make of them.

Your concentration was broke as Gordon walked in. He eyeballed you as Batman walked over to him. You watched as the two men talked; they periodically glanced over at you. The older man, of the two, was clearly agitated. Then the man dressed like a bat gestured for the doctor to come over.

Leslie smiled at you, "I'll be right back, ok."

You watched as the three of them talked, not able to hear them.

"Commissioner." Leslie greeted Jim.

"Leslie. How are you?" Jim greeted her in return.

"Better than you, you've got your hands full, Jim." Leslie smiled.

"What do you think?" Bruce asked.

"Well, the memory lost seems pretty genuine. There's one hell of a nasty cut on her/his head too. We need to get her/him somewhere where they can do a CT and MRI as soon as possible. Plus there are other tests that need doing immediately." Leslie stressed the need for this to be done sooner and not later.

"Thank you, Leslie." Batman said, "I need to speak with Jim in private."

"Ok boys, have fun." The doctor walked by over to you and left Gordon and Batman to talk alone.

 **One Year Later...**

 _Case #12-0701:_ _amnesia from a head trauma (caused by a high jump into water)_

 _The longer I work with #0701, the more doubts I have about the decision to go alone with Sharpe's, Gordon's and Batman's plan. The unethical choice, forced on me, to keep #0701's real identity hidden is backfiring._

 _It was apparent, from the moment #0701 was tested, that with the right medicine, therapy and treatments; memory could be partial restored (if not completely)._ _After the initial diagnosis of #0701s condition was dimmed Post-traumatic, Retrograde Amnesia. Test showed the condition to be, more than likely, semi-permanent. The consolidation ability of the brain showed promise with proper treatment._

 _Given #0701's history and violent past, the following choices were made:_

 _\- keep real identity "hidden"_ _(patient was told name only)_

 _-family history withheld_

 _-connection and history with The Joker (Arkham patient #0801) withheld_

 _\- limit most outside influences_

 _\- limit treatment for consolidation_

 _By doing this we now having a patient who has very unfortunate source memories: with abilities such as fighting skill, violent tendencies** that are causing #0701 to question the fabricated history that was shared with the patient._

 _**#0701 attacked and hospitalized one of the guards. It is unclear as to why guard019 was attack but rumors suggest the guard019 was threatening patient #0701 with the possibility of rape. A formal investigation has been filed and is being conducted._

 _(Doctor's Note on Attack_ _: The attack, although justified, could have been avoided. If patient had been aware of these abilities were part of their skill set, #0701 would have been able to control the outburst. Instead fight or flight kicked in and, given #0701's history, TRUE history, Fight was to be expected.)_

 _It's also clear by #0701s questions and comments over the past two months that the brain has indeed started healing itself..._

Sharpe didn't finish reading the report Dr. Leland had prepared. Frankly, he was surprised it was so canned and honest. It pissed him off that she had named him in the report as a co- conspirator in the plot to keep the Maroni in the 'dark'.

"I should burn this." Sharpe said pointing at the report on his desk. "I should take the computer of yours and burn it too. No doubt you've got copies saved."

"Sir, I meant no harm by it. I just had to make sure you understood where am at on this whole shitshow." Leland was being demanding and making sure Sharpe knew she no longer was 'ok' with any of this.

"I should pull you and reassign someone else to the 0701 case…" He was interrupted.

"Absolutely not, sir!" Leland was turning red in the face.

"Calm down, I know." Sharpe took a deep breath, "As you said, it's a shitshow already and pulling you would just make it ten, hell, hundred times worst."

"What do you suggest?" Sharpe asked.

"Well, it's in the report if you would just re—"

"Just tell me, Joan. What do you want?" Sharpe snapped.

"I want to tell her/him the truth. Let me be a real doctor and let me help her/him regain the memories that are already trying to come back." Leland leaned forward putting her elbows on Sharpe's desk.

"Sir, look. It's clear. The memories are there and no matter what kind of bull you feed her/him there not going away. It's only going to make the whole thing even more confusing. Which in return will created anger, aggravation, hostility, more violence and god forbid the memories do, just happen to, all come back…what then? Explain that to her/him, a judge, the DA, the board…" Leland stopped for a seeing a change on Sharpe's face.

Sharpe sat there not saying a word, only listening. Leland was right.

"Do it then." He said.

Sharpe's answer surprise Leland, she had already through of her response for when Sharpe refused to let her go on and treat you. Instead, she had to stop herself from being angry for no reason.

"Th-thank you, sir. What about Gordon and Batman? They won't like it." Leland was smiling but concerned.

"They don't have to know, at least not for now." Sharpe looked slightly worried, "I'll deal with them when the time comes."

Leland looked down at her watch as she left Sharpe's office. She was late; very late. She hurried through Arkham, having to go completely to the other side of the building and then up to the top floor in order to make her appointment.

* * *

 _"_ _How could she be late today?"_ You thought.

You paced back and forth, nervously waiting on Dr. Leland to arrive. Today you needed to talk to her, more than ever. Your schedule here at Arkham was very controlled, something you had started to completely despise over the past few months. Therapy sections were every Tuesday and Friday; they only lasted for an hour sometimes two. Between the doctor being so late, you not knowing how long the section would last and the fact that you needed actually counsel from her, you were on edge.

Your anxiety about the whole situation could be felt by everyone around you; granted that the only other people there were two Arkham guards, Cash and Downy. You had already been warned that if you couldn't calm down they would gladly restrain you. Cash was always suspicion of you; keeping one eye on you at all times. After the accident two weeks ago, who could blame him but before that you had always been well behaved. At least from, what you could remember. But that was the problem; you couldn't remember, not really.

You had been told and understood that you were here, at Arkham, to get help for your condition. Today you remembered everything about your condition: a fall had given you amnesia and not having family to care for you, meant you ended up here. On the days that your mind was foggy; remembering was almost impossible. However, the good days clearly out weighted the bad days; at they did up until two months ago. Things had started changing; you were starting to remember. Really remember.

In fact, remembering was exactly what you had to speak to Dr. Leland about. You had waited two days to talk to her. What you had been told about your life before the accident didn't seem to fit in with some of the memories you were starting to have. You were remembering faces and events that you couldn't make sense of. Something wasn't adding up and Dr. Leland had warned you that this would happen. She had also stressed that if it did, to tell her or Dr. Thompkins, who you only saw once a month, immediately.

So that's what you were trying to do, but she was late.

You walked over to the small window in your 'room' and gazed out. A small portion of the parking lot could be seen from it, along with the city's skyline in the distance. There was something about the city that made you feel homesick, like you knew you belonged out in it. You were sure of it; in fact, you were sure that there was more out there to be missed than you realized.

Turning around, you scanned the room they you had lived in for a year.

You had been told that because of your amnesia you were very unpredictable, therefore keeping you separate from the other patients at Arkham was extremely important. The only interaction you had with people was between, the guards and the doctors. You had always assumed they were being overly cautious about the unpredictable you may have. That was up until two weeks ago, when a guard threaten you.

The guard was still hospitalized from the beating you had given him. You didn't even know you could do that to a person. As it was happening, you didn't have to actually think about doing it. It was like your body knew what to do already; it had gone into a sort of auto-mode and defended itself. You could remember every detail of it too. How it felt to hit the man in the face repeatedly. How it felt when you broke his nose. How it felt when you choked him against the wall; then threw him down on the floor and kicked he repeatedly. And the odd thing was that you didn't feel bad about any of it.

After that, that's when the memories really started flooding into your mind. Nothing big, just bits and pieces of things, here and there. It was never enough for you to made heads or tails of anything. You knew through, you knew that something wasn't right, not adding up. And then there was the green hair man; you could never see his face in your dreams or memories, just that hair. The doctor knew you had been having flashes of this man right after arriving at Arkham, you had told her. But the flashes of him stopped after a couple of months; she knew that too. However, what she didn't know was that in the last two weeks you had started to dream and remember this man again. The difference this time: two days ago you had figured out who he was.

You continued to pace around the room, while you waited for another ten minutes.

"Doctor!" You were excited to finally see her arrive.

"Sit down, now." Cash ordered.

You stopped in your tracks "Ok, ok. Geez, sorry."

"Thank you, Cash but I think we're ok." Dr. Leland said as she looked around the room. She was little alarmed to see so many drawing of a faceless man with green hair.

"You sure, doc? I'm not comfortable with this one after what happen to my guard. Plus-" Leland didn't let Cash finish.

"It's. Fine. Thank you Cash." She ordered. Leland was clearly preoccupied.

Leland sat down at the small table in your room and looked around again, "These are new. Who are they of, do you know?" She asked still looking at the drawings.

You waited for Cash to leave.

Before the doctor could said anything else you pulled out a newspaper clipping. You quickly unfolded it and slammed it down on the table in front of the doctor. Leland looked at it then slowly lifted her head to look at you. You paced back and forth again, fidgeting with your hands and biting your nails.

"You're clearly bothered by this." Leland gestured toward the clipping.

You stopped and quickly took your seat, leaning forward on to table top, pointing at the green haired man in the clipping. You stared at him a moment before rubbing your hand over the picture.

"It's him, the man I dream about it." You looked desperate about the whole thing. "It's him, it's really him. We've talk about the dreams, I can quite ever get to the end of them, but he's there. Every. Single. Time."

"I take it you've started dreaming and remembering him again." Leland didn't ask, she already knew from the pictures you had managed to decorate your room in over the last two days.

The doctor stared at the man in the newspaper picture; she didn't say anything for a while. Leland appeared to be thinking.

So you went on.

"Joker…" You ran your hand over his picture again, "They call him The Joker."

You suddenly slammed your arm out onto the table.

The doctor shifted her eyes to look at your tattoo: _Thou Shall Kill In The Name Of_ _Love_ _Hate_ _Death_ _Freedom_ _The Joker_ Then she finally looked up at you, still not saying anything. You looked at her while you placed your hand over the joker card tattoo on your neck; rubbing it like it burned. There was so much running through your head.

"I wasn't…I think I wasn't a very good person. I worked for that man, didn't I?" Your eyes pleaded for answers.

"It feels like all the answers are..." You lightly hit the side of your head, "...but I can put the pieces together!"

"Hey, don't do that." Leland ordered you not to hit yourself.

She became quiet again, staring at you.

Finally she took a deep breath, "I made sure you got your hands on the right newspaper, one that would have his picture in it. I hoped it would help jump start some of the memories."

You stared down at the table; not speaking.

"Y/n, I have to show you something." Leland picked up her work tote and pulled out a tablet.

You watched as she flipped threw a few things on it; then she pulled up a video and handed it to you. You pushed play.

You watched as an old news video, from a year ago, played. The footage was from a news helicopter; showing The Joker and Batman on top of a roof fighting. You recognized the man known as Batman to be the one of the men you first met after your fall. Your eyes widened as you saw yourself run across the roof top. Carrying a gun and pointing at Batman, you shot at the Bat without hesitation; making yourself cringe as you watched it.

Your eyes bounced over to Dr. Leland and then back to the video.

You watched in anticipation. For you, it was like seeing it for the first time. As the three of you appeared to talk on the roof, you suddenly gasped and covered your mouth as you watched yourself jump off the building. Tears filled your eyes as you watched yourself fall; Batman went after you. The Joker ran to the edge of the building and looked down. Suddenly, an explosion caused the video to end.

You sat there saying nothing for a few moments, only staring down before looking up at the doctor.

"Do you remember any of it?" Leland asked.

You shook your head 'no' as you wiped the tears out of your eyes.

"Y/n, you told me that you jumped to save him."

You quickly looked up to the doctor, "To save him?" You placed your hand to the newspaper clipping of the Joker.

"That's right. You were perfectly sane and knew what you were doing." Leland studied you.

"So, what does it mean doctor?" You nervously picked at your nails as you waited for her to answer you.

Leland shifted in her seat and looked around the room again. She took a deep breath and started, "I want you to understand something first, before I begin."

Leland reached back into her bag and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, "I hope you don't mind. God knows I need one."

You shook your head 'no'.

"I want you to know, a lot of bad choices were made and the people who made those choices, will answer for them." Leland was looking at you, wanting to make sure you understood.

"Tell me, I have to know." Your tone was cold. It was a tone that Leland hadn't heard come from you in nearly a year.

Leland lit a cigarette, "You worked for him…No, it was more than that. You were his right hand, his second in command, you helped him run his whole criminal empire."

You became engrossed in what she was saying, listening intensely.

"After what you just saw in that video, the court ordered a twenty-eight day stay, here in Arkham. After your jump it was mandatory that the court have you evaluated, to make sure you were competent to stand trial. You were here 19 days before The Joker, via an Arkham guard, snuck you a gun and other items; you used them to escape."

Leland was done with her cigarette; so she lit another one. It was clear that she was nervous about telling you the truth.

She continued, "You damn near made it too. You were on the road when Batman stopped you; you ran, naturally, jumping into the river to get away. That's when you hit your head."

You reached up and touched the scar on your head.

"You were found on the river bank with amnesia." Leland studied you as you took everything in.

"After that, well, after that you remember, yes?" She paused giving you time to think.

You didn't show any kind of emotion. Instead you sat there, almost staring through the doctor. You did know. You knew exactly what had happen; the man they call Batman and the older man, who wore glasses, had talked along time the night you were found. After they were done, you were brought here to Arkham. They were responsible for the lie you had been fed the pass year. It made you angry but not angry enough to do something. What could you do? Beside what Dr. Leland had just told you, you didn't really know who you were. You only knew of the person you had been and you wanted more answers.


	12. Chaos and Death, They Call Him

**A year ago…Ha-Hacienda**

 _"_ _The search continues for the missing Arkham inmate, whose attempt to escape was hindered by The Batman last night. After a daring break out, that left five guards dead at Arkham, a car chase then ensued followed by a pursuit on foot; the inmate, identified as y/n Maroni, jumped into the Sprang River to avoid capture. Police and civilian, alike, have joined together in an effort to locate this dangerous inmate. As of now, the river is still being searched for any sign of Maroni. Please contact GCPD with any information."_

J sat alone, the television casting shallows across the dark bedroom. He stared straight ahead, half listening to the news report, not moving a muscle. His phone in front of him on the coffee table; he was hoping it would ring any second with news; good news. For him to have been so exuberant just hours ago; his mood had taken a dark turn. There had been no room to plan of the worst; he had been too excited that he was about to get you back.

 _"_ _Why didn't I go?"_ He kept thinking to himself. He had order three of him men to wait for you on the other side of the bridge; _"if only you had made it that far. They should have helped."_

The three guys had been the first one to return and break the bad news to J. His angry over took him and beat each one of them to the death. Then J used every inch of his felonious reach to get as many people out looking for you; he had to find you first before the cops could. He was sure that this would only a small hiccup in getting you back.

As your mug shot flashed up on the TV screen, J closed one eye to focus on it. He was incredible in intoxicated at this point and once the new anchor started to talk again he waved off the TV like he'd heard enough, making a face at the screen. An empty bottle of liquor hit the floor as he stood up. He stumbled slightly before steading himself; he let out a laugh and then stopped. He'd already forgotten what he was about to do. The alcohol and his emotions were getting the better of him; something he did not like.

The need to visit the restroom hit him; so he began his wobbly journey. Nearly falling once, he caught himself on a small table knocking over a lamp; it broke as it hit the floor. Somehow, he managed to avoid getting any glass into his bare feet. As he finally reached the door, he bumped the door frame stumbling into the restroom and catching himself on the counter.

"Fuck." He mumbled as he leaned against the counter, searching for the light switch on the wall.

It brightly lit the room, causing J to squint for a moment. He could see himself in the mirror, his lipstick smeared across his cheek; he smeared it more, making the one side match the other. Once he was done he turned the water on and washed his face. A pale face stared back at him. His eyes were blood shot. Lifting his hand, he rubbed his eye and noticed his knuckles swollen. You looked at his other hand; it too was in the exact same shape. As he continued to look down he started to focus on the blood that splattered his shirt and pants; he had a vague recollection of him assaulting someone. It might have been more than one person, he couldn't clearly remember. Who was it? Then it dawned on him that he didn't care, not in the least.

He finished up in the bathroom and fumbled out, making his way back across the bedroom. He froze in the middle of the room; looking at the small sofa then looking at the bed, he headed toward the bed. Climbing into bed, he tucked his arm under a pillow and snuggled his face into it. Suddenly, he took the pillow and slung it as far across the room as he could; it smelled like Harley. There was only one person who he wanted to smell at that moment. He quickly reached for other pillow and smelling it tossed it also. When he found one that didn't smell of Harley, he tucked it under his head. His mind immediately went to thoughts of you. He could almost taste your kiss and smell your hair. He loved the way you moaned when you were begging for more. He buried his face in the pillow and growled out of angry.

Within minutes he was passed out…

"Mistah J." Harley's voice was somber and soft as she sat on the side of the bed call out to J.

It was late afternoon of the next day and giving the news that was coming in; she knew he needed to be woken up and told.

"Puddin'." She reached out gently and placed her hand on his back. She slowly rubbed her hand in a circular motion, as if she was comforting him.

Once he started to stir, he pulled away from her touch. She was quick to remove her hand and respect what he wanted.

"Puddin' somethings happened. It's awful important that you see." She waited for a moment, "You need to see what's on the TV. Ok, Puddin'?"

He did reply, keeping his head turned away from her. He had a hangover of biblical proportions.

The sound of the TV coming on made the hairs on his arm stand up. Then the sound of the new reporter's voice made him cringe.

"Turn it off." He ordered Harley.

She did so immediately and waited for her next set of instructions.

J moaned as he pushed himself up. He slung his legs over the side of the bed, into a sitting position. He leaned over; resting his elbows on his knees and letting his head hang down. His green hair had knots and cowlicks, causing a monstrosity on the top of his head. He reached up and ran his hand over it out of habit. Then he tilted his head back, cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders; working the stiffness out of them.

"Harley girl, a glass of water, now." It was an order.

"Anything else?" She spoke softly.

He shook his head 'no'. Harley hurried, going to fletch the water for him. She returned almost immediately carrying some aspirin along with the glass of water. J took them, tossing them into his mouth and drowning down the water.

"Where is she/he?" It sounded hopeful.

Harley bit down on her bottom lip and made a slight sigh.

This only caused J to repeat the question in a loud demanding tone. "Where. Is. She/He.?"

"Listen Puddin' the news, well, it's not good." She rushed to J and kneeled down in front of him.

Grabbing his hand, "Oh Puddin', I'm sorry."

J pushed her off and stood up from the edge of the bed. The anger was already building and he didn't even know how bad the news really was. The glass in his hand went flying across the room as he marched out of the bedroom. The doors flew open with so much force it caused the frame to shake.

"FROST!" J voice echoed thought out the house as he marched down stairs looking for his men.

"Y/N!" He called out with hope.

The men rushed to meet J. The first henchman to rush out was met with a fist to the face from J.

Frost walked in, "Geez, Boss." He helped the guy up.

"Tell me something good, Frost." J motioned with his hand as if he was telling Frost to come here, "Tell me you found her/him."

Frost could only nod his head 'no' while he stared down. J's lips curled over his teeth, flashing his silver grin as he started to laugh manically. He quickly walked up to Frost and pulled his gun out of its holster. He allowed it the casually dangle at his side while he spoke.

"Well, then. Jonny my boy, do tell."

Frost's look was actually sadness, "Boss you really gotta watch the news. We tried; I've still got guys out searching just in case."

The TV was on in the background. A picture of your mug shot was being shown on the screen caught J's eye and he somberly stared at the screen; the headline read 'Inmate Drowned'. There was dead silence as his henchmen watched in awe at the look on his face; they had never seen the boss look so devastated. The gun dropped from his hand and hit the floor with an echo. Suddenly he found himself down on the floor; sitting on his butt, his knees bent with his elbows resting on them, his head buried in his hands. For a few moments everything seemed to move in slow motion. He could hear the voices of his men and Harley but he couldn't make out what they were saying.

Then it stopped. As fast as it started, it ended just as quick. It was like someone snapped their fingers and everything he was feeling disappeared. J started laughing, making everyone take a few steps back. The whole insecurity of the situation made everyone, including Harley, fearful of what might happen next. As J pushed himself off the floor and continued to laugh.

With an out stretched arm, he gestured toward Frost. "You're up. Let's hope you can do as good of a job."

J suddenly was very composed. "You know what happens if you mess up, Jonny my boy."

J cracked his neck, "Now. It's business as usually, gentlemen. Get move on it. "

No one made a move, only watched as the boss walked over to Harley and grabbed her around the neck. He led her into the bedroom, slamming the door behind them. For a moment there was awkward silence, Frost and the other henchmen didn't actually know how to react. Not only had the boss lost his second but they had lost one of their own. It didn't seem right no just move without at least acknowledging you were gone.

Suddenly, from the back of the group a shorter man walked up to Frost and patted him on the back.

"Congratulations." Mo's tone was somber but genuine.

"She'd/He'd picked you instead, you know that?" Frost replied lowly, keeping the conversation between him and Mo.

Mo smiled, "Doesn't matter now. Besides you couldn't pay me to be in your position right now." He cracked a goofy grin.

"I'm going need someone I can trust." Frost offered his hand to Mo to shake.

Mo looked down at his hand and then back up to Frost, "Should know by now, you can't trust anyone in this business." Then he shook Frost's hand.

 **A year ago…Arkham**

The three men, a cop, a vigilante and a warden, watched as a guard uncuffed you and locked into your new "home". They had placed you on the top floor of Arkham in a part of the build that was no longer in use. Being told that this was a hospital and it was necessary in order to help you; you had agreed to go willing. Unware of the lie that was being spun in order to "help" you.

"This is a bad idea. We can't fake a person death. And then keep them locked up here like an animal." Sharpe argued with Batman.

"It'll only be for a short time. We have a chance to help someone, who knew nothing more than a life of crime." Batman was convicted you could be helped.

"With her/his memory gone..." Batman reminded Sharpe, "We have a chance to do something good."

"What happens when or if it comes back? There'll be hell to pay and I for one don't want to be on the receiving of the Joker's wraith or his/hers, for that matter." Sharpe was worried and with good cause.

"That's why it's important we limit who has access to her/him. As far as her/his presence goes here at Arkham, it should be nonexistent." Batman continued watch you thought the two-way glass of you make shift cell.

"Jim, what do you think?" Sharpe asked.

Jim had been very quiet while the other men talked. He was debating the pros and cons of the whole thing the in his head. There was the moral stand point of this being very wrong but would be any more unethical to allow someone like this to continue on the path of violent crimes, hurting people with no remorse? Jim was tore.

"It doesn't matter. They've already announced the Maroni's death. It's done." Batman announced to the men.

Jim finally spoke up, "How dare you go behind my back, we haven't all agreed to do this yet."

Batman didn't reply to Jim.

He spoke to Sharpe, "You have a good doctor who will be on broad?"

"I have a few that are willing to bend the law but the best one is Leland." Sharpe looked stressed.

"Good. I want to speak with the doctor." Batman order, "I have a few precautions I want her to follow when she's working with the Maroni."

Jim lit a cigarette and shook his head, "God help us if we're not doing the right thing."

 **Present Day…Arkham**

Dr. Leland waited a few days before coming back to start your "therapy". It was hard to decide what to actually call it. It wouldn't be the traditional therapy they used for amnesia victims; you had, more than likely, far surpassed the point of any of that being affective. The doctor was going to make this as simple as possible for you. She would just tell you about your life. Granted, there were a lot of pieces missing and because of that, she was beginning to entertain an idea that she knew she shouldn't be. The doctor glanced over the drawings of the Joker still hanging on your walls, she shook her head. _"God help me if it comes to that. I wouldn't even know where to start to find him."_ Leland thought to herself. She pushed the idea into the back of her mind for the moment; she would cross that bridge when she got there. A clear head was what she needed now.

The doctor decided the best place to start was, well, the beginning. She'd spent most of her night preparing all the information about your family that she had available to her. There would be no sugar coating your past; you had been born into violence and crime. And you had lived your life the same way; all Leland could hope for change. You were at a turning point, a proverbially clean slate as it was. Choosing how you would walk down this new path was your choice and your choice alone. The doctor was fully prepared to help you follow whichever path you picked; Batman be damned.

Speaking of Batman, the doctor also knew she needed to go into more detail about the scheme to fake your death. It would be a key factor in helping you understand why no one came looking for you; why _he_ didn't come looking for you. Regardless of the good intentions that had been the motive behind the strategy, the fact that it had been so unethically had slowly eaten away at Leland; she would no long abide. She knew, when the time came, she was as much to blame as anybody else and would have to answer for her guilt. That's why it was so important to make things right.

"Have you remembered anything new? You're still writing it down if you do, correct?" Leland asked you.

You were excited about the idea of finding out more about your life. It showed on your face and your mannerism. The doctor noticed she hadn't seen you pick at your fingernails, not once, this whole time. It was a nervous tick that you had developed about six months ago. Leland was fearful that it would lead to other, more harmful habits.

"I haven't and I do. When I have a dream or a flash of something, I write it down." You answered as you rested your elbows on the table.

"Doctor Leland, I have some questions." You were clearly excited.

"Alright. What are they?"

"I want to know how long is this going to take and if I do start remembering…does that mean I get out of here? Or do I go to jail for all the crimes I've committed?" You spoke fast.

"Well…" Leland hesitated, "…legally Y/N Maroni is dead. As far as the world is concern, you're dead. Gordon fudged the paperwork after him and Batman locked you up here."

"And everyone is under that impression? Even him." You gestured to your drawings of the Joker.

"That's right. I suspect you being "dead" was the only reason he didn't come looking for you." The doctor gave you a small smile as she said it.

"So I was that important to his "business"?" Your brow lowered as you started to deliberate what that exactly meant.

"When we talked about you escaping the first time; he was the catalyst for that." The doctor paused, thinking about whether or not she should share her suspicion of there being a romantic relationship between the two of them.

"In our first session, before the fall, you made it clear that the Joker and you had a sexual relationship. Whether or not it was more than sex…well, we never got that far." Leland watched your reaction closely.

"How does that make you feel?" Leland asked.

"I don't know." You stared down and started fidgeting with your hands.

"I think that I…" You stopped; you didn't know how to express what you felt.

The truth was you didn't remember anything but bits and pieces of him. Simple things really, like a smile or a few of his facial expression. One of the dreams you'd had over and over was walking into a room and having him look up at you and smile; just thinking about it made you feel content. The fact that you had remembered him, regardless how small and pointless the memories may have been, made you feel that he must of held a significance place in your life. The more you through about this, the more it became clear to you that it was vital that you find your way back to him somehow.

"Try and finish your thought." The doctor urged you on.

"I think…I think I want to know him…again." You looked at the doctor, "Does that make sense? It feels right saying it. I mean, I know that technical I knew him but he's a stranger to me now."

You continued to pick at your nails, "But I don't feel like he's a stranger when I look at his pictures."

The doctor smiled and shook her head 'yes', "Do you want to know what I think? I think you loved him, y/n. I think you loved him and I think you were also in love with him. But I have to warn; he might have replicated some of those feeling in return but you have to understand it's not that simple with the Joker."

Leland reached into her bag and dug around. She pulled out a folder, "He's been a patient here at Arkham. This place isn't only a care facility but it's a hospital for the criminal insane."

Your face souled a little, "So, something else I was lied to about…Doctor."

Leland looked disappointed with herself. "Yes, there have been a lot of lies told to you in the pass year…a lot of things that I aim to make right. And for that I'm sorry."

You nodded once.

The doctor continued, "We house some of the most violent and mentally unusable criminals in Gotham. And the Joker has been here on multiple occasions. I want you to read about the man that you shared a life with but I've taken out some personal information that is his to tell. Regardless of what the natural of the relationship was, his life and yours have been intertwined for a very long time. You need to know about him."

The doctor sat the folder down and pushed it across the table. You didn't take at first you only stared at it.

"You have to understand, the Joker has been diagnosed with many different kinds of disorders, depending on the doctor. But one thing that's clear, on his best day he's a bipolar, psychopath and on his worst…" The doctor looked at you and made sure you were paying attention, "On his worst day…He's chaos and death, inside a very intelligent man, who has the means and know how to accomplish anything he wants."

You placed your hand on the folder and looked up at the doctor, "And what does that make me, doctor? If I navigated my way around him so well."

The doctor didn't hesitate to say the truth, "You're no different…you _were_ no different."

The doctor tried to clear the awkwardness in the air.

"I wanted to start with telling about your family but we got a little side tracked." Leland looked at her cell phone for the time.

Suddenly, seeing her look at her phone, made you remember something else you wanted to ask her about.

"I want computer access." You almost demanded it instead of asking.

"I can do that but it will be limited. No communion, understand?" Doctor waited for a response.

You sat their staring back at her; fighting back a wave angry.

She pulled out another folder from her bag and opened it. She handed you a photo of a group of people. You studied the photo, unable to recognize anyone in it.

"That is the Maroni Crime Family, to which you were born into." Leland leaned over the table and pointed to a man. "That's Sal Maroni. He was the head of the family and your father."

She pointed to another person, "Your mother, and that one is your oldest brother…"

The doctor went on pointing out each person and telling you who they were. When she was done; she got straight to the point.

"They're all dead. Each and every Maroni, except you." She waited to see if you had anything to ask or say.

She continued, "They were all killed the same night by the same people. The police seem to think it was a rival criminal organization wanting to take over the control of the city."

"So who took over?" You asked almost excited sounding.

"Your green hair man." The doctor handed you a photo of the Joker; he was younger and you were beside him.

Your eyes lit up and the doctor's narrowed, "It was roughly a year after the death of your family, when the Joker started his raise to power in Gotham. You've literally been by his side the whole time."

"So there's a good chance that I had something to do with my family being killed?" You bounced between the photo and the doctor.

The doctor studied you, "The cops couldn't prove it. You were never charged. The only two people that know what really happened..." She handed you another photo of the Joker with you in the background. "…are you and him."

"I think it's important for you to know that in the police reports, statements given by people who worked for the Maroni Family; They all say that you were estranged from the family. That you and your father did not get along and that your uncle actually wanted you killed."

"There's a twist. Your uncle," she pointed to him again, "somehow survived that night and was in jail for over 10 years. That was…until you killed him."

"Me?" You sounded surprised.

"That's right, there's footage of it. The Joker needed some of his own people killed in jail and while executing these men, you stumbled across you uncle. Then shot and killed him." The doctor cringed as she said it.

Your head was down, looking at the photos that you had placed in front of you.

After a few moments you spoke, "A history of violence."

"You could say so but you don't have to be that person anymore. You could choose to—"

You interrupted the doctor.

"I've had enough, doctor, at least for today." You waved the doctor off.

"That's perfectly ok." The doctor tried to hind her apprehension, "I'll be back the day after tomorrow and we can continue."

 **2 months later…Ha-Hacienda**

"There's a doctor who's trying to find a way to get in touch with you, boss." One of the henchmen said.

J made no acknowledge him; He continued to look at his phone.

"She's claiming to work at Arkham." Frost added as he pushed the other guy aside and walked right on into the room, taking a seat.

J continued to look at his phone but gestured to Frost to go on.

"Tony, down at the Ace of Spades said she just walked right in and started asking about you. Said she must have asked five or six people, before he pulled her aside and talked with her." Frost had a worried looked on his face.

J was still looking at his phone, "And what is this good doc-tor's name?"

"Leland. Joan Leland." As soon as it rolled off Frost's tongue, J perked up; giving him a quick glance turning back to look at his phone. J had heard the name Leland while in Arkham.

Frost hesitated before saying anything else, making J look back up at him. J immediately knew there was something else by the look on Frost's face.

He quickly jumped up, "Well, Jonny my boy, out with it."

Jonny's eye bounced to J and then back to the other guy before starting, "Boss…" He looked concerned, "She says they've got y/n at Arkham. That the Bat and the cops…"

J's phone exploded into pieces from being thrown as hard possible against the floor. He suddenly looked as if he'd just ran a marathon, panting with such force his chest was rapidly moving up and down. His head was tilted up, his eyes closed. For a long time no one knew what to say or do.

"Boss?" Frost used caution.

J continued to keep his head up and eyes closed. His hands went straight for his hair, he ran them through it repeatedly, one after enough until he'd completely stopped and was simply grabbing his own hair tightly. He looked like a volcano ready to erupted, yet he said nothing. Suddenly, he went down, bending over and then snapping back up, releasing his hair and throwing his hands up into the air.

"GGGOOOOD-DAAAMNN THAT BAT!" He finally exploded.

Anyone who's was within earshot immediately went on high alert. And for good reason, J drew his gun and started popping off random shots in every direction. Frost bravely stood his ground, trying to calm the boss down.

From another part of the hideout Harley came busting into the room; wide eyed and ready for action.

"What's happening?" She beamed.

She fearless walked into the room with J, like Frost hoping a bullet didn't find its way into her body.

"Puddin'?" Her bubbly voice rang out.

J cringed but put the gun down and looked toward her.

"There, there Puddin'. What's going on?" She walked up behind him and started to rub his shoulders. At the same time she looked over to Frost who slightly shook his head, 'no'. He knew Harley wasn't going to like the news about the only person who was her rival for J's heart being alive.

J ignored Harley and spoke to Frost, "Go get the car. We're going to make a house call on the doctor dearest."

They waited outside of the doctor's house. As soon as they saw her leaving for work, Frost immediately got out and approached her.

"Joan Leland?" Frost asked.

"Yes. What is this about?" She asked quickly, her tone full of fear.

"He wants to see you." Frost replied, "You should come with me, now."

"Who's 'he', the Joker?" Panic was sitting in.

"Like I said, you really should come with me." Frost grabbed the doctor by the arm and started leading to the car.

Leland was nervous, "I was on my way to work. They'll know somethings wrong if I don't show up."

Frost smirked at her attempt to let him know she would be missed.

"Look, if what you said about the Maroni is true…you got nothing to worry about." Frost continued to led the way to the car, "The boss is particularly fond of that one, so for your shake…" he moved his coat and flashed his gun so the doctor could see. "Let's hope you're right."

Leland was fast to answer, "There's something you need to know about the Maroni…"

"Doctor whatever is it you can tell the boss. He's the one you wanted an audience with and now you get it."

Frost manhandled her into the front seat.

"Doc-tor Le-Land." J's voice rang out from the backseat with charm.

She jumped out of surprise and fear.

The door slammed as Frost got back into the driver's seat, "Where to boss?"

"Well Jonny, my boy. That's for the good doctor here…" J grabbed the doctor's shoulders. "…to tell us."

He grinned, "Now doc-tor, where is she/he?"

His lip curled as the doctor began to answer him.

"They put him/her in one of the old wings at Arkham. The old lab, on the top floor." As she spoke J relaxed back into the backseat and ran his hand threw his hair.

"For the pass year I've been in care of him/her but…" The doctor stopped talking as J grabbed the back of her neck and squeezed tightly.

"You heard her, Jonny. Arkham." J ordered.

Frost put the car into drive and pulled off.

"So, we're going to just walk right in?" He glanced at J using the rearview mirror.

J still had hold of the doctor, "Well doctor, what do you think? The side door on the B wing, it's never guarded." J smiled, knowing he was right about the best way to walk right into Arkham.

"We'll just throw on a couple of hats, some white coats and they won't know us from the help." J laughed.

They did just that. It was alarming how easy the three of them walked right into the build. Only one guard was hurt in the process, knocked out; tied and gagged in a closet. After that the three of them simply made their way to the top floor.

"I don't think this is a good idea, I should really talk to him/her before you go barging in there. She's not going to know why you're here. There's a good chance…" The doctor stopped walking and grabbed J's arm. "Stop!"

He turned and his eyes immediately went to her hand as it wrapped around his arm, pulling at his jacket. Leland released him quickly.

"Sorry." She stood her ground, "But you're not listening to me."

"We need to ease into this, for his/her benefit." She urged.

J rolled his eyes and gestured for the doctor to open the door in a very hostel manner.

The doctor slid her card through the lock and the door opened. J pushed the door and walked into the small corridor that connected to your cell. There was a one way mirror between the corridor and the cell you were in. He froze for a moment, as he laid eyes on you for the first time in a year. J's eyes moved trying to take all of you in.

You sat at your small table looking up toward the door. You could hear that someone had come through the first door and waited in anticipation to see who it was. J noticed right away your mannerism were slightly different. Every time you moved you seemed unsure of yourself. Then his eyes caught the drawing of "him" on the walls. He scanned over them, causing him to grin.

"You said she couldn't remember doctor." J said while staring ahead.

"She/he doesn't remember the way you and I would. She's/He's had dreams and flashes of memories. In this case of a green hair man, or you. But that's where it ends. I've done therapy to try and help some of this memory develop." The doctor stepped up beside J and watched you. "That one's smart, she/he was able to piece a lot of stuff together; the dreams, flashes, the tattoos, old news stories and clips. She/He knows that she/he worked for you but that's it. The actually memory of you isn't there."

J glanced over at the doctor and then turned back to look at you. He curled his lips.

"Open the door." He ordered.

"I can't allow that." The doctor pleaded.

J snapped his fingers and suddenly Frost had the doctor, gaging her.

J took her key card, pulling it hard, snapping the lager from around the doctor's neck. He opened the door and in he went.

You heard the door open and smiled looking up expecting to see Dr. Leland. The smile on your face immediately turned into a blank stare. A knot formed in your belly that made you feel sick. You watched in disbelief as The Joker slowly walked up to where you were sitting. You quickly jumped up and scrambled away from him, putting the table between the two of you. He suddenly lifted the table, sending it crashing across the room, making you flinch and draw your arms up close to your body. Tears started forming in your eyes and you began to back up. He continued to walk up to you, until you'd back yourself up against a wall. You froze.

Your eyes closed tightly and a gasp left your lips as you felt his hands grab hold of your jawline. He crowded on top of you.

"Open your eyes." J ordered you.

Your lips quivered and a scared groan, followed by your head nodding 'no' was your answer. You felt his hand tighten gentle around your face. You could smell him, feel him, hear him…it was too much. As you felt his forehead touch your own forehead you gasped for air. Suddenly, you couldn't breathe.

"Shhh. Shh." He swayed his body against yours.

You gasped again.

"Shh. Breathe. That's it, breathe." His voice made your chest tighten even more.

"Come on, calm down. Breathe, baby." J tried to coax you into breathing with his slow rhythm. "I'm taking you home."

Suddenly, your heart felt like it was about to beat itself to death against your tight chest. Every breath you gasped for went unanswered; you felt yourself suffocating. You were having a panic attack. Something you'd never appearanced before. You grabbed his forearms, trying to brace yourself. You felt everything in your body giving up.

"Doctor, get in here. NOW." He released your face and wrapped his arms around your body, keeping you from falling.

You went limp in his arms, blacking out.

J carried you over to the bed and carefully laid you down on it. He hovered as the doctor checked your pulse and breathing.

"It was a panic attack that caused a fainting episode. Everything simply just overwhelmed her/him." The doctor looked up at J who was somewhere between hyper and concerned.

J's eyes were wide and he was breathing thought his mouth. He turned to Frost and gave him a nod; Frost stepped out of the room and immediately got on his phone.

J looked at the doctor, "She's/he's coming with us."

"Absolutely not." The doctor stood up, "There is no way I'm going to allow that to happen."

J grinned, "Now, Doc-tor. Just how do you think you're going to stop me?"

When you woke up you could hear Dr. Leland speaking.

"I told you this wasn't the right way to go about this." Her tone was one of scolding. "And now you want to remove him/her from my care."

You were awake but hadn't moved; you laid there listening.

"Now doc-tor. You forget…" J said grinned smugly. "I've got my very own psychologist."

Leland was shaking her head 'no'.

"I'll go." You spoke up, quickly sitting up.

J smiled and stretched his hand out to you, "See doctor."

You took his hand without hesitation; he pulled you up and wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you to his side. Your body tensed and you tried to slightly pull away.

He tightened his grip on your waist and looked down at you, "You don't have a fear me. Understand?"

"I can't let you do this." The doctor rushed over to the emergency button on the wall and pushed it.

An alarm went off.

"Now doc-tor…" J cocked his head to one side and smirked, "…you're going really wish you hadn't done that." J nodded at Frost again; who hit the doctor right in the head with the butt of his gun.

She felt to the floor, out cold. You stood there, watching. The urge to go with him was greater than anything. At that point you didn't care who they had to hurt to get you out of there.

"Jonny, tell the boys we going need them sooner rather than later." J said cheerfully.

Frost immediately got back on the phone.

J looked down at you; standing there in your faded Arkham uniform. You looked the same but different; J couldn't quite put his finger on it. There was a gleam in your eye that hadn't been there before. You looked by up at him. He suddenly grabbed your face; cupping you jawline with one hand. You felt his body shift as he began to lean down to connect with you lips.

Frost walked in the room, "Boss, it's time."

J stopped before he could kiss you and looked up at Frost.

"Well, that's our que." He pulled his gun from its holster and grinned down at you.

He then let go of your waist and took you hand instead.

Looking down at Leland, who was still out cold, "Thank you Doc-tor."

He laughed manically as the three of you left.

J led the way thought the halls with you in hand. Him and Frost were quick to shoot any of the guards they ran into. It surprised you by the lack of remorse you felt for them; you didn't know them, so you didn't care. Once the three of you made it to the elevator, Frost used the doctor's key card and opened it. J entered first pulling you in with him; Frost entered last and hit the first floor button.

Before the elevator could start moving J holstered his gun. The speed at which he grabbed you and pushed you against the wall of the elevator, surprised you. He took either side your of head into his hands, tangling his fingers into your hair and forced a kiss on you. Almost instinctively you kissed him back; it was like your body knew exactly how he moved. You moved with him perfectly, tilting your head with him as he plunged his tongue deeper into your mouth. Once it ended, he looked at you with a soft grin. You slowly smiled back at him causing him to press his forehead against yours for a moment. Then he kissed you again with a quick peck as the elevator arrived at the first floor. You could hear gun fire before the doors even opened.

J grinned, "Sounds like a party."

He turned back and looked at you, "here."

He handed you a gun with a grin on his face. Your hand trembled slightly as you took it.

"You remember how it works?" J asked with a look of sincerity on his face.

You nodded yes once and again, like your body knew exactly what to do; you checked the chamber and cocked the gun.

J grinned from ear to ear, "That's my baby."

The doors opened and there was a group of men dressed in costumes and wearing mask waiting for the three of you. The henchmen began shooting and clearing a path; you watched wide eyed as the chaos and mayhem ensued around; never once fletching or ducking to hide from the bullets. The path was cleared making it possible for J to literally walk out the front doors of Arkham, hand and hand with you.


	13. Hours After

The silence was deafening. The air was filled with excitement and tension making you uncomfortable; but uncomfortable wasn't quiet the right word to describe how you felt. You sat perfectly still, trying to contain yourself, staring straight ahead out the windshield of the modest vehicle that you and the Joker had switched into a few miles back. As the vehicle sped down the deserted road, Gotham could be seen out the back window, slowly fading into in the far distance. Frost followed closely behind in another vehicle. You had no idea where they were taking you and didn't care. You were in a state of disbelief.

A cringe followed by a look of content crossed your face as you dug your fingernails into the skin on the top of your hand. The dull pain quickly turned into satisfaction that soothed your apprehensiveness. The ease you got from your self-induced pain slowly faded and you could feel your doubt and fear starting to boil back up to the surface.

You tried to look, out of the corner of your eye, inconspicuously at the Joker. It was the first time, since getting into the vehicle. His wrist was casually draped over the steering wheel with his other arm stretched out, resting on the center console of the vehicle. He appeared extremely relaxed, cool and collected. For some reason you suspected it was either this Joker; the calm or relaxed Joker or the manic, chaotic Joker that Gotham knew.

You wanted to feel the same ease that he exhibited. Slowly, your nails dragged across your skin; digging deep, when suddenly the Joker's hand reached over. He took your hand, stopping you from scratching the skin on top of your hand again. His movement was subdued and leisurely, as if he was trying not to allow his touch to startle you. However, it still caused a wave of anxiety in you, that borderline eagerness. You tried to hide your misgivings and made sure not to pull away from him. He clutched your hand and pulled it toward him, resting his elbow back on the console. His eyes didn't move off the road as he wiggled and worked his fingers between yours.

"Four times…" He held out four of his fingers on the steering wheel and curled his lip slightly.

"You've done that." Joker squeezed your hand and let his nail press into your skin slightly.

His eyes bounced between you and the road, meeting yours repeatedly as you stared at him. Each time he'd glance at you and see that you were still watching him, you'd feel him squeeze your hand affectionately.

 _"_ _Is he waiting on me to say something? Shit."_ You thought.

Your heart was beating rapidly; he made you incredibly timorous for a mixture of reasons. Your mind reeled with questions.

 _"_ _What should I expect? Wait. How dangerous is he really, to me? Not at all, he calms."_ Your mind was going a mile-a-minute _. "Does he want me to take back over as his second? Can I? Am I capable of that? Was I a good second the first time; what if they like that Frost guy more. Oh shit, oh shit! Am I his girl/boyfriend? He called me 'baby' earlier. Was that normal? Wait, WAIT! Does he expect sex?"_ You glanced at him, _"aaauuuuhhhhmmm."_

There was no other way to describe it. You. Were. Terrified. Terrified of what may or maybe come next.

 _"Fuck,"_ was the only thing you could muster after all that.

Your guts twisted the longer you let yourself think. Immediately, you started fidgeting with your free hand; crudely pressing a finger nail into the tip of your thumb.

Your eyes moved down to his hand as it held on tight to your own hand, _"Oh God. I wish he'd let go of it."_

It was all too much to process; everything little thing just seemed to add to your confusion. Your apprehension didn't go unnoticed.

"You're ner-vous." Joker announced, "It's written all over that beautiful face of yours."

You looked at him wide-eyed. You produced a shy smile and nodded 'no'. He released your hand causally, using it to gesture with as he spoke.

Pointing his finger at you, "Lair, lair."

He started to wiggle it playfully as a grin crossed his face. He clearly was teasing you and trying not to be overly intimidating. You barely curled the corner of your mouth, trying to give him a smile but failing miserable, shifting your eyes away from him. At the same time, you retrieved your hand, pulling it close. There was a mild relief to your misgivings.

"Look at me." Joker ordered with a snap of his fingers.

You did, without hesitation. Meeting those bright eyes, circled in darkness, made you freeze; the intensively of those eye felt so familiar, yet so foreign. He charmingly smiled at you, reaching over and gently nudging your chin. The moment lingered longer than it should, making you uncomfortable.

"You, you should watch the road." You spoke up.

"O000hhhh." His red lips formed a perfect circle as he stretched out the 'oh' in an affable manner.

"There you are and you still hate my driving." He laughed.

He tugged the wheel back and forth, causing the car to coast from the white line to the yellow line and back again. Your eyes cut over to him and you grabbed his arm and squeeze it, "Stop it." There was a very slight timid laugh to your voice.

Then you realized that you were touching him and pulled away. You didn't know whether it was ok to touch him, again you'd read enough about him to know he might not like it. He curled his lip watching your reaction.

"I told you." He scoured. "You don't have to fear me."

"Yes I do." You shyly spoke out. "I've read enough about you to know that even the closest to you should fear you." You paused and looked over at him, "Especially, the closest to you."

Joker stared at the road, making no comment or facial expression. After a few moments of silence you glanced at him. It was clear that he was annoyed by what you'd said and seemed to be allowing it to burrow deep. Your, already, wary state of mind plus the dread of seeing how you'd provoked the Joker promptly caused you to dig your nails into your skin. Immediately, a shockwave of fear ran through your body as Joker hit the steering wheel with the palm of his hand, hard.

Pulling the vehicle over onto the side of the road, it came to an abrupt stop as he slammed the car into park. Then giving the steering wheel one more hit for good measure, he started running his hand over his hair. He left his hand resting on the back of his head for a moment.

You were fearful and intrigued at the same time. Why hadn't you tried to stop the words as they came blurring out of your mouth? You felt your heart drop, why would you say that. If there were lines and limits not to cross…you feared you were about to fine out.

His lips curled over his teeth as he cocked his head toward you, giving you a look of almost disbelief. Then he slowly formed a smile as he ran his hand, very slow this time, over his hair and he chuckled. Suddenly, there was a flash of movement and he was over on your side of the vehicle. Pushing you against the door, you started to slap at him. He immediately grabbed you hands, holding them down with no real effort at all.

"Stop." He ordered.

You tried harder, getting one of your hands free and continued trying to push him away.

"Stop it." He used more strength, putting an end to your struggle.

"Christ. Calm down." He said as you immediately felt him release the forceful grip he had on you.

"Ok?" He nodded 'yes' at you as he shifted you around in the seat. A small gasp came from you as he hit the seat lever, causing the seat to lie back. He grinned. You watched him, as you willing let him move your body to where he wanted it; pinning you down between him and the seat. He lifted one of your legs and straddled the other one; making it so the two of you were straddling the other's leg. As he hovered over you, he reached for his poorly timed, ringing phone.

Joker looked at the caller Id and answered with an, "Everything's fine, Jonny. We just need a few minutes to have a private discussion." J winked at you as he said it.

Once done, he tossed the phone into the empty driver's seat and turned his attention back to you, leaning down. He nudged his face and head into the crook of your neck. A rush of anxiety surged through you, being so close to him felt right but it filled you with terror. You grabbed the collar of his shirt, balling the silk into your fist as his hands move down either side of your body. Your grip tighten out of daunt, the lower his hands went. Maybe at first he thought it was longing, the way you pulled at his shirt and the mild shiver that ran through your body, which prompted him to start kissing your neck. However, as soon as he heard the scared croak, something between a gasp and a sigh with a sight cringe, come from you he pulled away.

You froze. You didn't have to remember everything about this man to know that the look on his face was one of disappointment. The blank stare he wore said that, at that moment, he truly realized how much of the old you was really gone. His sad eyes looked down at you as if he didn't know you. And he didn't, not really…not anymore. You were only a physical shell of someone he'd once known, granted that just below the surface all the bit and pieces of who you use to be were there, it had all survived, they just needed reconstructing.

The Joker's blank look suddenly turned, and he was manhandling your hands and arms pulling them from in front of your chest, where you had them tucked. You put of a mild struggle, not really resisting, allowing him to really do as he pleased, holding them down flat against the seat of the car. He lingered over you for a moment before pressing the side of his head against your chest. You felt your body tense and your breath shorten as you braced for whatever was about to happen.

Nothing happened.

He remained still, head down, his grip on your arms released as he pushed his hands into yours and threaded his fingers together with yours. Your breath returned, almost in a pant. You could see his head move up and down from the rapid breathes your lungs were producing. He tenderly snuggled his head against you as a low soft, "shhhh" exited his lips.

"Slow your heart rate down." You could feel the vibration of his voice against your chest.

He turned his head up with a sudden flash of speed to look at you. He didn't lift his head up high, instead keeping his chin rested on your chest, making you shift your eyes down to see him. You tried to give him a smile but it was halfhearted, you were unable to hide the uncertainty coursing through you.

"You made your choice, at Arkham, to come with me. There's no changing your mind. Not now." There was cruelty behind his voice.

"Understand?" Pushing his head back down on your chest, he nudged his face up against your throat. This time you maintain your wits about you, telling yourself the same thing he'd already told you, he's not going to hurt you.

You could feel his lips move against your skin, against the joker card tattoo, as he continued to speak, "You're not quite yourself right now but we'll fix that."

You felt another soft kiss against the same spot, "that I can promise you."

The idea of you actually remembering and becoming yourself caused a surge of hope run through your body. You wanted that.

Maybe he felt the surge run through your body or maybe it was perfect timing but he lifted his head to your ear and whispered, "That's what you want. Yes?"

"Let me hear it." He took your earlobe into his mouth, not quite kissing it but not quite sucking it either.

"Say yessss." He hissed out between his own panting.

You might have moaned, you might have gasped as he worked your earlobe, everything went a little foggy. Between your anxiety and excitement, the physical stimulation sent your adrenaline into overdrive. As you finally realized he was saying 'yes' into your ear you started to nod 'yes' out of impulse.

"No, say it. Saaaay it." He coaxed you.

You moistened your lips quickly with your tongue before saying, "Yes."

He grinned against your ear and whispered, "Good. Now. Kiss me."

Joker purposefully kept his face where it was, slowly nudged and caressed his face against yours urging you to turn your head to meet his demands. His lips silently repeated 'kiss me' against you cheek. Suddenly, you lifted your head, making your lips meet his; you offered them to him without actually kissing him. His parted lips formed into a huge grin. He let out a small chuckle while lowering his head momentarily, letting his green hair tickle your face. Your eyes closed as the scent of his hair found your nostrils. He smelled like nostalgia, sending a wave of spontaneous happiness through you.

Lifting his head up, he stared at you for only a mere second before his tongue pushed between your already parted lips, twisting with your own tongue immediately. You continued to lift your head; as if for some reason you still needed to offer yourself to him. He pushed back against your lift, working his head to the left then switching and working it to the right. Like before, your body remembered the rhythm of his movement, making the flow of the kiss move smooth like two well-rehearsed lovers.

The kiss broke and he paused slightly for whatever reason, perhaps to make sure you were still in the moment with him. The two of you panted almost in tandem, still close enough to kiss but not yet doing so again. Joker delayed, lingered like a predator waiting on the precise moment to take you. He was savoring it all; the feel of having you under him, the tremble of your body as it filled with excitement and lust, the scent of your skin, the taste of your mouth, the color in your eyes, the tickle of your hair, even your reluctance to let yourself completely emerge yourself into the moment. He could feel you still in there, trying to get out, trying to find your way back to him.

He teased with a quick kiss, seeing if you'd answer the passion brewing between the two of you. You did, pushing back, chasing his lips as he pulled away. He allowed it. The wild pushing and pulling turned messy. There was nothing sweet or romantic about the physical exchange; instead it was raw and convoluted. Two people trying to fill an empty hole, a lost portion of their soul, with the other; convinced the other was the solution for everything wrong in their existence.

Lips, tongues, teeth and salvia; met, bit, licked and exchanged in a rush of movement. Your body gave in to him, rutting and grinding against him, longing for more than the touch of lips and clothed body.

You were ready to surrender your body to this man that you'd, at least from what you knew, once loved. The desire and need was there, regardless if the 'love' wasn't yet.

Suddenly, you found yourself being manhandled, shifted and moved; only it wasn't in order to make it easier for The Joker to have you. He'd forced your arms from around him, in order to pull away. He set back, leaning his back against the dashboard of the vehicle, creating a substantial distance between the two of you. Your eyes focused on him as he studied your body. The movement of your chest, a rapid up and down from the quick heavy breaths you took. The way you let your arms rest at your sides, elbows bent allowing your forearms and hands to relax on your belly. They were your mannerisms only slightly altered.

He ran his hand over his hair and smiled at you. Then reaching out with one hand, he let his finger bush your bottom lip and trail down your chin and grabbing your jawline.

"No." He quickly leaned back down and gave you another kiss; only this one had a lot more tenderness behind it. You didn't respond.

Once done, his finger replaced his lips as if he was telling you 'shhh'. He gently patted your lips, giving them a tap or two before he began to gently shake his head 'no'.

"No. Not yet." It was a barely a whisper and followed by a grin.

With a flash of movement he was right back into the driver seat of the vehicle. Pulling and manipulating his clothes back into place with a grin as he eyeballed you. Your eyes closed and reflected momentarily, realizing that even though your body had been so willing, that your mind was actually relieved that the level of physical activity had halted where it did. You were enacted, nothing embarrassing to shy away from had occurred; only a moment of two people sharing a mutual attraction with kissing. You found yourself keeping your composer, setting up, adjusting the seat back upright and even seat belting yourself. You gave Joker a smile, thanking him silently for knowing where you needed him to stop, where the line had been.

Once the vehicle pulled back onto the highway there was somehow less tension in the air. Something had changed between the two of you, something for the better. A natural conversation began between him and you, as you inquired about the designation. In a charming tone and cheerful rhythm he explained where he had kept his hideout the pass year and why.

"Between the GCPD, Haha, that Gor-don has been a real pain in my backside this pass year. But anyway, where was I? Oh, yes. And the FBI and that goddamn Bat," Joker balled his fist up when he mentioned the Batman.

"I needed somewhere off the beating path. Somewhere the boys and I could keep our heads low and belly's full. Haha." He reached over and let his hand touch your leg.

"And the old Maroni mansion was perfect." He grinned, "Plus, we have so many wonderful memories here." He winked.

Your eyes took in every inch of the old ran down mansion as the vehicle snaked its way down the long driveway. A second set of gates also had an M decorating the iron just like the first set. Maroni you said in your mind. Your family's name sake, your family's mansion; technically Joey Okers' mansion, according to paperwork. A blanket name, one of the many, you used to keep the government from tracking down property and land that belonged to you. Everything you owned was now, after your "death", in the care of Joey Okers aka The Joker. You quickly realized, as you listening him ramble, that he had managed to keep everything that belonged you from being seized. He kept it all.

"I had the boys board everything up." The vehicle came to a stop in front of a huge set of garage doors. They started to open.

"Well, everything except this place." You listened by your eyes still studied your old homestead, trying desperately to dig something out of your memory bank.

Once inside the vulgarly large garage, you started to get the full picture of just how much money your family had at one time. However, in your mind, what did it matter? You could literally care less.

You didn't know where to go, Joker lead the way. Following him down twist and turns of the old abandoned mansion, most of it looked as if there hadn't been any kind of life in the place for years. Then the dust and webs disappeared and he was leading you down a shadowy hallway, filled with doors on either side. One side the whole row of glass doors lead out toward an overgrow garden, the other side, all wooden doors. Where they lead was anybody's guess. It must have been beautiful at once, that much you could tell. The sun set low in the sky, casing an eerie glow over the over grown garden. The two of you approached the end of the hallway, stopping in front of a set of huge wooden doors that were closed. The muted sound of laugher was coming from the other side. You looked at the doors, as if you could see through to the origin of the laugher but quickly bounced your eyes back to Joker.

"I can't." You didn't even know how to express the sudden twist in your gut.

"Remember who you are." The look on his face was intense as he studied you, then he grinned.

And with that he pushed the doors open, barging in with poise. Silence fell across the room. Each face seemed to express a different emotion. Ollie was the only one who seemed to stare without emotion; having only worked for the Joker just under two years, he didn't understand the full extent of what your absence and presence meant and how it affected each of them very differently. Mo's already smiling face, lit up even more. The stock of you being alive had been thwarted by Frost, who only minutes ago had announced that you and J we're on the way. Speaking of Frost, he looked concerned, worried. His eyes quickly shifted to a young woman at the table with Ollie and Mo.

The photos of her were less than perfect; they didn't fully comparison to the real thing. A beautiful young woman, skin bleached out just like The Joker, hair adore with pink and blue color and fierce blue eyes. Harley stared at you, no, she stared at The Joker. Her eyes focused on him as a smile crossed her face. Your eyes quickly flashed back to Frost who still seemed to be focused on the reaction that he feared Harley might have. With a quick glance to Mo, then to Ollie, then back to Frost, you jerked your eyes back and forth. Then your attention was pulled to J as you felt him drape his arm around your shoulders, he grinned like he was the proud new owner of something exquisite and rare.

Suddenly the loud sound of a chair scraping across the floor made everyone's head turn. Mo was all smiles as he got up with purpose.

"I'll be damned." The overly happy man said cheerfully as he gave everyone a good one over; almost disappointed everyone wasn't as happy as he was to see you. He immediately started walking over to where you and J stood in to the doorway.

Once more, you let your eyes scan over everyone; finding Harley eyeballing you like you were the black plague. There was nothing hatful about her expression, instead it seemed lost, dejected. You knew all about Harley, your curiosity peeked about her after learning from Dr. Leland in Arkham that Harley Quinn not only had been dubbed the Joker's girlfriend but she was also, at one time, a doctor at Arkham and his doctor. Leland had known her personally and out necessity warned you about the unhealthy, obsessive ownership that Harley and the Joker seemed to have for one another. Standing there, seeing the look on her face you suddenly felt like you had possibly underestimated how she felt about the Joker.

Your mind suddenly went blank with the feel of arms around you. You felt your feet come off the ground and you saw nothing. Suddenly, you the heard Joker laughing loudly. You felt the pull and tug of hands on your body and looked for the source. Frost had you, pulling you, holding you back, and trying to keep you from hitting Mo again. As you realized what was happening, your struggling became less violent and more defensive as you tried removing yourself from Frost's grip.

"Enough." The Joker's voice was stern as he ordered Frost to stop, snapping his finger at him in the process.

"Hands off." J added for good measure.

You looked down at the man you were hovering over. The best you could figure, Mo's hug had literally caught you off guard and you went into defense mode. Surprising the hell out of everyone except J, who seemed to be all starry-eyed at the sight you of having physically over took Mo. You felt embarrassed. Helping Mo to his feet, he saw it too, the confusion on your face.

He gave you a warm smile, "I'm still happy as hell to see you, y/n."

You rewarded his confession with a genuine smile and nod.

"Sorry." You whispered it; giving a quick glance around the room seeing that everyone was nearly on top of you.

You felt your gut twist and your nerves react; it felt like you were being closed in. Everyone had moved in closer as a result of the misunderstanding. Ollie looked excited as hell. Frost maintained a look of suspicion, acting like you were a lose canon that could go off at any moment. Perhaps he was wise to feel that way. Harley stood back from the rest of the group; her eyes bouncing between J and you. You felt like you were on display.

You were aware that your hands were starting to fidget with each other; being so aware of it only made the urge worse. You nervously tried to relocate your hands, placing one to your neck. The urge to dig your nails into your skin was hard to fight; instead you started rubbing the side of your neck, trying playing it off as itch. That only made you feel like everyone was watching you even more so you moved your hand back down and started rubbing your hands together. You glanced down at them, then proceeded to do a double take.

 _"_ _Is that blood? N_ o." You quickly thought to yourself.

It was too bright to be blood. It was more like…

 _"_ _Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit."_ It repeated rapidly in your head as you realized it was lipstick.

It was Joker's lipstick and it was on your neck. You quickly reached back up and wiped the same spot with your hand, checking it for another red smear.

Mo kept his voice low, "You're only making it worse." He smirked as your eyes widened.

You immediately found Joker, he was only a step or two away. Moving toward him, he grinned at you with pride. Your eyes focused on his lips, his face and neck. Somehow, he'd managed to smear his lipstick on your neck while at the same time managing the spectacular feat of not getting any on his face. As soon as you got close enough to him, he reached up and cupped your face.

"Yoooou are just sooo..." He playfully rubbed his hands against your cheeks, "perfect."

The sound of Harley huffing loudly in disagreement was ignored.

You were becoming overwhelmed, between the eyes you felt on you, your violence outburst and evidence all over your face of mild fornication, you needed to escape. It was funny, only 30 minutes ago the Joker was the sorce of your nervousness but being the center of attention right then, you found a safe zone by having him be your buffer zone. You fist clung to his shirt as you looked up at him.

The look on your face made J take your soft plead seriously, "Get me out of here." You could barely even get it out of your throat.

He nodded once and slipped his arms around your body, pulling you in as if he was physical protecting you. You closed your eyes and felt a wave of relief wash over you suddenly. You stood there, being hug like a small child being consoled.

"Come on. Follow me." J whispered into your ear and then kissed the top of your head.

You nodded 'yes' against his chest. Then he led the way; taking your hand and starting up a stair case leading to the second floor. Glancing back to see that the only two people still watching the two of you was Harley and Frost. It dawned on you that they were the only two who had something to lose by your return.

"Puddin' are…are you…" Harley stumbled over her own words trying to find the right way to say what she was thinking. "Will I see you later?"

You glanced down at her from the stairs you and J were going up.

"Puddin'?" She sounded sad, then her tone turned hatful, "Puddin!"

He stopped and turned, looking down at her with a look of utter annoyance, "What?" He snapped.

She seemed at a complete loss of words, "Puddin. I…I…just…wanted…"

J let go of your hand. He tilted his ear toward her in a deplorable manner, acting as if he was waiting for her to finish. When she didn't finish her question, he began moving his fingers in unison, coaxing her to say something.

"Well, what did you want?" He asked sarcastically.

She looked defeated; her big beautiful blue eyes were on the verge of tears.

He gave her a fake frown and then slowly started back down the stairs. Joker winked at you as he passed you, flashing you a grin before looking back down to Harley; giving her another fake, over done frown. She watched him meticulously as he approached her, everyone did. The tension was building in the room; what Joker was about to do was anybody's guess.

He stood in front of Harley for a while, just staring at her. She stared back. You could see the devotion and love she had for him by the simple way she looked at him. She wanted to reach out to him, grab him, hug him but didn't; instant she waited for him to make the first move. Finally he did; reaching up and taking her face into his hands. She smiled warmly at him and placed her hands on top of his; caressing them in return.

J leaned into her, placing his head beside her so he could whisper something into her ear. As he softly spoke to her, the look on her face went from pure adoration to total despair. She jerked away from him and planted a slap across his face, hard enough that he spat blood out of his mouth before giving her a huge grin.

Harley stood there a few moments longer, glaring him down before turning and storming out the same set of doors you and J came through earlier. The whole thing seemed surreal to you as you watched it unfold. Once she disappeared out the doors, Frost immediately got up and started after her.

"Don't bother." J laughed as he wiped his mouth again, "She'll be back."

"Boss. Are you sure?" Frost asked.

"Oh, am sure." He gestured casually at the door as he turned on his heels and started back toward the stairs, "She always comes back."

J cheerfully skipped up the stairs, making his way back to you. You glanced down the rest of the guys; they were all making a point to redirect their attention elsewhere. Before you could even turn your eyes back to look at J, he was being mischievous by pushing up playfully up the stairs, corralling you toward the top as he followed closely behind. Once there, he led the way to his, and soon to be your, bedroom.

You were tried; completely drained, physically and mentally. The only thing running through you mind was how nice the hot water felt as it flowed over your shoulders and down your body; this was the first shower you could remember not having to rush through in order to keep from having the hot water randomly turning into ice cubes. As you plunder and pillaged the shower of soap and shampoo, it was clear that up until now, Harley had been living side by side with J. You closed the bottle of shampoo that smelled fruity and open another one. Smelling it, the scent of J's hair hit your nose, giving you the same feeling of nostalgia as before. It made you smile.

Once you were done, you dried off and tightly wrapped yourself in the towel before venturing out into the bedroom. J was in a chair with his elbows resting on his knees. His head down and his hand folded together. As soon as you walked into the room he looked up. His eyes landing on you, making him dragged his top teeth over his bottom lip in a sensual manner; he acted like he enjoyed what he saw, making you blush. For a moment the two of you seemed frozen in place, perhaps waiting on the other one to say or do something first.

Finally, J gestured with his hand, motioning for you to come to him. You did, stopping right in front of him. Only he continued to motion for you to come closer, not stopping until you stood between his knees. Your leg brushed against him; it went unnoticed as the two of you were preoccupied with studying the other. You felt vulnerable, given that the only thing between you and The Clown Prince of Crime was a cotton towel. Your nerves were twisting but you hide it well; telling yourself to calm down.

His elbows remanded rested on his knees, his eyes flashed away from your face, moving down, taking every inch of your body in like it was his first time witnessing it. J barely moved his hand, allowing the back of his fingers to rub against the towel, making it tickle your leg. You felt a mixture of excitement, shyness and uneasiness; however, all of it was being greatly over shallowed by the craving to move forward.

Suddenly, J was burying his face into your belly and tightly hugging you. You gasped out of surprise; his touch sparked your adrenaline. He pulled you close, cuddling and nudging his face against your body. You hesitated momentarily before placing your hands on the back of his head and hugging him back. Your fingers, involuntarily, tangled into his green hair.

" _This feels..."_ You though to yourself, " _right_."

Another slight gasp exited your lips, feeling one of his hands move down the back of your legs. He moved it low enough to touch the bare skin on the back of your thigh. The initial surprise was quickly replaced with lust as he slid his hand higher, stopping at the curve of your butt cheek; he softly tickled your skin with the tips if his fingers. He moaned softly as your hands fisted up in his hair, pulling it for the excitement of his tickling.

His other hand immediately slipped under the towel and grabbed your other thigh, making each hand mirror each other. While his fingertips pressed firmly into your skin, holding you tight, your body began to yearn for more physical activity. A moment or so passed and nothing happened; no procession toward the ending you wanted, an ending that resulted in the Joker ravishing you. His face was still buried, hidden by the towel that covered the belly he was cuddling; seeing his expression was impossible.

You had no idea how to move forward; you only knew you needed to. Releasing his hair, you moved your hands to his neck and coaxed him to look up toward you. Instantly, your hands cradled his jawline as that pale face stared up at you. Suddenly, his hands shifted closer between your thighs causing you to moan and nodded yes, granting permission, something you knew he didn't need in the first place but was oddly seeking.

In one fluidity motion, J was standing; his hands claiming your ass as they groped and squeezed, causing you to roll your hips against him.

"How bad do you want this?" He growled into your ear.

Your mind reeling with reactions, all of them a form of 'take me, have me, I want this'; you quickly tried sorting through them all. Needing to make sure to expressed exactly what you felt and what you needed from him, physically and emotionally. Then you knew. You knew what he needed to hear, what he needed to know, what both of you needed to make the situation, at hand, find its way back to where it had been.

For the first time, you didn't hesitate, placing your hands back on his face.

"I don't remember a single thing about what we had, what it was, what it wasn't but I know this...your voice is comforting, your scent is familiar...every cell in my body lights on fire when you touch me." It poured out, making him pull you closer as you spoke.

His breathing deepened, his grip on your ass tightened. You stared up at him, letting your eyes trace the outline of his lips.

"I want to kiss you." You ran your thumb quickly over his bottom lip and then nervously giggled, "And I don't even know if that's ok."

A huge grin crossed J's face at your confession. Then he forcefully pressed his lips to yours, parting them wildly. Your whole body returned the kiss, rolling against him, arms wrapping around his neck, your tongue dancing with his. Your lips returned the force of the kiss, the chemistry undeniable.

Your gasp broke the kiss, but the needful whimper that followed ensured J that his hand moving further between your thighs as he gripped your ass was very welcome. In fact, you pushed into his grip, inviting his fingers to explore. He nudged his face into the curve of your neck, biting hard enough that the pleasure mixed with pain. It excited you. You liked it.

You moaned to him, "You have to make me..." You gasped as his fingers explored, teased you. "Make me fall in love with you all over again."

You could feel a huge grin form against your neck, he lifted his head so he could press his cheek against your cheek; then he whispered into your ear, "You've always belong to me. You always will, won't you?"

You started nodding.

"And as for me." He let out a low, deep chuckle mixed with a growl, "I want you."

The two of you turned into wild animals. Pawing and panting with desire; both groping the other, kissing and biting exposed skin with an avid viciousness that only created more pining. It was an explosion of pure physical attraction and the enthrallment of two people; two people craving the connection that once prevailed and each of them willing to do whatever it took to get that bond back, no matter the cost.

Yet with all that energy flowing between the two of you, there was still a hindrance and as fast as everything started it ended. The two of you continued to embrace the other, your arms firming wrapped around his neck with your fingers tangled in his soft green mane. J held one arm tightly around your waist with the other around your back, reaching up holding the back of your neck. The connection remained; breathing heavily, both of your chests moved in a tandem up and down. The taste of the other still lingering, causing the craving to kiss again.

Soft, quick kisses were exchanged until J grabbed your face and forced a long, passionate kiss. There was something beautiful about the sexual tension between the two of you and strength it took to willingly fight against it. J wasn't the kind of man to deny himself of anything but this was different. Even for The Clown Prince of Crime, his desire to have and keep you by his side out weighted the urge to have sex.

"Not yet." He barely whispered it.

You smirked and nodded in agreement, giving him another kiss. Regardless of the lust and desire clearly brewing, there seemed to be a mutual understanding that to ensure this reconnection didn't start on the wrong foot, that there may be certain things that needed to wait.

The kiss ended with J giving your head a slight, playful shove that caused the two of you to bump heads. A smile and soft laugh erupted from you and J grinned before quickly giving the spot on your head, that he'd bumped, a kiss.

With a tilt of his head, the famous "Ha-ha-ha" filled the room like music.

You felt spellbound as his iconic laugh flowed out. It was like seeing a rare, exotic flower bloom to life, the only one of its kind and somehow making you just as exceptional for witnessing the act. A chill ran down your spine as you realized, truly comprehended, that after months of dreaming and weeks of research and rediscovery about this man; he was actually tangible, yours to have. There was a feeling of triumph flowing through you; finally, you felt like you were where you needed to be, in spite of everything.


	14. Sometimes Word Are Very Unnecessary

**A few weeks later…**

Most days you found yourself keeping your distance; literally and figuratively. Unless the boss made you otherwise, you rarely socialized with the small crew he had assembled at the hideout. J hadn't demanded a lot for you, yet; instead, he seemed contented with gradually easing you back into your old life. Thanks to this, you managed to stay right on the fringe of having to interact. Loitering just on the edge of participation, you kept close; seeing and hearing everything without the actually need to engage with any of them. You were completely content with keeping to yourself and only pursing a connection with J.

After putting the brakes on what was obviously a substantial physical attraction, J still continued to keep his focus on you. When it was just the two of you, words were not needed; sure, the _desired_ was there but the _need_ was unnecessary. Unlike other times, when he was the pulse of the room, the center of everything, or the performer, he didn't seem to crave that requisite from you; whether it positive or negative, you hadn't decided yet.

At first, the manner in which he would watch you proved to be aggravating. J could spend an hour or two, sometimes longer, simply scrutinizing you; causing you to become overly aware of your own movements and actions. Trying to ignore him seemed impossible; so giving in to his behavior, you found yourself becoming accustomed to it. Soon you realized that he wasn't observing you out of suspicion or any misgivings that he had, no, he was more transfixed on you; he was fascinated by how different you'd become while still being so familiar. This clarity brought you solace and instantly changed everything. A non-verbal dynamic between the two of you swiftly materialized; a quick glance, a small hand gesture, a curl of the nose, the wink of an eye, a tiny smile, a big smile, simple eye movement, or even the tone of a laugh could be translated into meaning that the other one perfectly understood.

So today, there you were. J had called a meeting and you sat in the back of the room. Not wanting to be there and feeling the craving to claw yourself, instead you pulled and adjusted at the clothes you wore. Your nervous fidgeting was getting better, simply because you were becoming accustomed to your new surrounds. There seem to be a correlation between aggravation of any kind and the fidgeting. Little did you know but would soon come to realize, the violence that was encouraged with the company you kept was actually a piece of the puzzle. Your body and mind merely wanted to react the same way they always had to mild annoyances and inconveniences; with violence.

You tried to maintain your attention on what was being said; the sound of Frost's voice faded in and out as your mind wondered.

 _"When is this going to be over?"_ you asked yourself, almost sighing out loud.

Choosing once again to keep your distance, you sat in an oversized chair, by yourself, on the same side of the room. Frost, Mo, and Ollie sat around a table located adjacent to a huge window; the curtains were pulled shut, expect for the faintest little sliver of sunlight coming through. You watched the dust dance and floating in the light.

 _"Damn. Focus."_ You scowled yourself.

Your eyes shot over to where J was seated; a wing back chair near the head of the table but he had pulled it a few feet away from the table. He was slouched in the chair with the same kind of dreadful weary look on his face; he tried to focus on what Frost was saying also. Once again you moved you eye back to the others, this small intimate crew that J had gathered around him. Why these people?

Jonny Frost: Apart from you, Frost had worked for Joker the longest. The two met by chance one day after Frost was sent by, none other than you, to go pick Joker up from Arkham; granted, you didn't remember that fun little fact. At the time, Frost was simply a low ranking thug with no influence but for whatever reason J took a liking to the man. Eventually, you and Jonny worked side by side, but never as equals. There was no competition when it came down to the person J trusted and favored above all others; you.

Regardless, overtime the repeat demonstration of Jonny's dependable and loyalty, in conjunction with your accident, set him on the course to gaining the position he held today as Joker's acting second. A verity he was, no doubt, very pound to laid claim to. You got the inkling that Frost was working hard to make sure you wouldn't be reclaiming your place as Joker's second; including an odd notion that he didn't want to see you in the boss's bed.

Eamon Molony or better known as Mo: Mo started out as a two-bit thug like most. The two of you were very agreeable, possessing the same disposition. It was obvious that Mo had not only been your point-guy but a personally friend; your 'fidus achates' as J called him on more than one occasion. Whether or not that bond survived remained to be seen. He was perpetually trying to reconnect with you, when given the chance; trying to rebuild that bridge of friendship that you just didn't recollected.

However, there was a comfort, a sort of reassurance, which you sensed around him; something you definitely didn't exist when Frost was near. Perhaps you were uninterested in getting to know Mo but your intuition told you, you could trust Mo and that was nothing to pass off as folly. Like all the information you were rediscovering and compiling, you made sure to retain for future use.

Next there was Oliver Waters, also known as Ollie: He was a very young and a very handsome lad, just starting out in the Gotham Crime Scene. Always very willing to learn and eager to assist, he wanted to please no matter the circumstance. Ollie was a cheerful guy who fit the part of a flaky airhead fairly well. His silly personality, mixed with his juvenile sense of humor could easily be deceitful; making one pass him off as no-threat, but this wasn't the case. You had talked with him a few times and saw pass it; he had plenty of intelligence and aptitude hidden underneath all the wise cracks and horseplay. There was actually potential there, and you assumed J saw it too; which is probably why he tolerated him.

They were it; you never saw anyone else, beside J, of course. Harley, to their surprise, never returned back to the hideout. J never once acted like he seemed to notice or care that she was gone. The only one who remotely showed in cause for concern, had been Frost, who had made several attempts to contact her, all without luck. Finally after two weeks, Frost made Mo accompaniment him into Gotham, in order to try and locate her. Two days later, when they returned Frost was covered in his own blood and Mo was missing a finger. J only laughed, finding the whole situation quite amusing; actually, complementing Harley for holding such an unyielding grudge against everyone associated with him.

You couldn't help but wonder what she was up to…

Suddenly, you snapped back to what was happening in the room for some reason. The last few minutes of conversation, between Frost and the others, was a complete blank to you. You had gotten sidetrack thinking about these assholes in the room with you, letting your mind wonder off into la-la-land. You couldn't shake the misplaced feeling that you'd done something wrong by zoning out; naturally, you bounced your eyes around the room in a peccability fashion trying act like you had been listening.

Your heart skipped a beat as you suddenly made eye contact with J; he was blankly leering at you. You quickly remained yourself that there was no way he could have known you were thinking about other things and not actually listening.

 _"And so what, if I was."_ You through making yourself smirk.

J gave you a slow smirk in return and slowly ran his eyes over your body, before bringing those gorgeous bright eyes back up to meet your gaze again. Little did you know but J was preoccupied thinking to his self, just like you. And also, just like you, not really paying any attention to Frost. He was torn about the feelings he had for you.

 _"I adore you. No. I appreciate you. No. I prefer you. Geez, get a grip man. You can't tell y/n that you prefer him/her. Prefer you, to what? Well, Harley for one, to these assholes."_ His eyes quickly shot over to the table and snarled at Frost.

 _"He's still flapping his mouth."_ J immediately looked back in your direction.

His thoughts when right back to you, _"I selected you. I picked you. Yes...I chose you. Lucky you, Heehee, lucky me."_ He'd been struggling with exactly what he wanted to say to you, only trying to avoid using the L word at all cost.

You smiled at J for across the room.

 _"Just look at that smile."_ J smiled back at you, _"See…"_

 _"Fuck, you drive me crazy. Image that, me…crazy. Hahaha."_ Another smile slowly crossed his face.

 _"You're not dispensable. I didn't enjoy your absence. You're never going away again."_ J continued to gaze at you. _"There it is…that feeling; it makes my gut twist thinking about something happening to cause you to leave. I'll keep you locked in a room, chain to the chair or tethered to my side if that's what it ever takes to keep you."_

Believing someone dead can make you start to see things coherently. And at least in J's mind he was seeing things very clearly now.

 _"You belong to me: The Joker, The Clown Price of Crime. But you know that, don't you. I like belonging to me. You want to belong to me."_ He grinned at you as he thought about you belonging to him. _"Mine. Maybe I could tell you that…you're my prize possession. Granted, I didn't realize until it was too late but that's not my fault, not really. How was I supposed to know? They said you don't know how you feel about something until it's gone."_

In all the time J had known you, the longest that he had ever went without seeing you was only 2 months. Even when he was in Arkham, he would talk to you nearly every day about business and you were the only person he made sure to put of the visitation list; granted you used an alias and wig so you come and go without getting arrested. Needless to say, the two of you had never actually experienced an absence from the other until this last year apart.

J went right back to contemplating, _"So, yes, while you were 'gone' I realized that I wanted you, no-no-no. That, I needed you, no. Wanted you. Fuck. The Joker doesn't need or want any…"_ Hiss thought trailed off as he watched you playfully curl you nose up at him, causing him to instantly grin at you.

 _"Expect you… I want you..."_ He thought before quickly getting angry with his self, " _Enough, pull yourself together!"_

J cleared his mind and focused on Frost.

"It's important we keep up appearances." Frost paused; he was waiting on a response that he wasn't going to receive.

 _"What is this buffoon still going on about?"_ J rolled his eyes.

Not receiving a response, Frost moved on to a subject that he knew J would listen to.

"The Bat's been given everyone a hard time, boss." Frost said. "He's been tearing the city apart looking for you and…" Frost glanced at you, instead of saying your name.

You felt the weight of Mo and Ollie's eyes shift toward you, following Frost's lead.

J continued to look at you, as he listened to Frost; bring up the Bat had done the trick, sort of.

"Someone's been ratting out where some of the old hideouts were located. The Bat left this at the apartment downtown." Frost tossed a batarang down on the table.

"And this at the warehouse by the docks." He tossed another batarang down beside the first one.

"You sure it was him?" Mo asked as he picked up one of the batarangs, "He doesn't normally just leave this things lying around."

J responded to the conversation with the snarl of his what I mean... action caused you put your fist to your mouth in order to not snicker, which he returned with a playful curl of his nose. The two of you continued to exchange small facial expression ridiculing what Frost was saying.

Frost gave a dirty glare to the whole room before continuing, "Everyone's scared of doing business with us…you, boss."

J open and closed his hand in a mocking fashion, mimicking Jonny's mouth as he babbled on.

"Afraid it will bring the Bat down on them tenfold." Frost was overwhelmingly aggravated, "Frankly, you can't blame them."

J rolled his eyes again, still cutting up with you, while at the same time becoming very annoyed Jonny.

"What have we done? What have _you_ done to make sure your position at the top of Gotham's crime ring remains secure?" Frost was about to cross a line, but he was too worked up to realize it.

He got louder.

"We've got to make our move now while there are still some in Gotham who respect and fear us. You may not have another change to take Gotham back." Frost demanded.

As soon as you heard what Frost said your eye's flashed off of J and looked at Frost. The nasty expression you gave Jonny made J grin.

"What. Do. You. Think?" The sound of J's voice made you cut your eyes back toward him to see that he was addressing you.

Your mouth hung open slightly, not knowing what to say at first. The fact that everyone's eyes were on you now, did not help.

"Boss, we could-" Frost tried to continued.

J snapped his fingers at him, making him hush instantly.

"I want to know…" J suddenly stood up, "…what y/n thinks about all this…." He waved his hand, "…all of these words you've been trying to spin into a fancy tapestry."

J paced around the room as he continued to address you.

"You didn't like something Jonny-boy said. What was it?" J stopped moving and stood there giving Frost a threating look.

Nervously, you sat up in your chair and scanned the room to see how everyone else was reacting. Then you took deep breath and swallowed before answering, "T-Take Gotham back."

"Yes." J excitedly pointed at you as if you've been a student who'd just answered correctly.

Then he turned back to Frost giving him the same ominous stare as he continued to address you, "And what was it about that statement you didn't like?"

"Well. It seems to me, that you, The Joker… never lost it." You shyly replied.

Everyone jumped as J unexpectedly clapped loudly as he crossed the room.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! That's right my sweets!" He said in a congratulating tone.

He pompously made his way to the table and leaned over it, hands palm down, face to face with Frost, "I. Never. Lost. It." He was condescending.

A loud smack echoed in the room as J back-handed Jonny across the face. Twice.

J viciously grabbed Frost by the head, running his fingers through his hair as he spoke to him with an impending tone, "Gotham doesn't forget The Joker. Gotham doesn't become fearless of me."

J was panting heavily, very threatening, "Gotham simply holds her breath when I'm away…"

He released Frost's hair with a shove and playfully patted his cheek.

"Frankly, it doesn't matter what silly group of buffoons think they run Gotham. I'll do what I've always done; simply take what I need when I get there. Hahahaha. Somehow, I don't think anyone will try and stop me." J was standing now, grinning.

"HAhahaHaHA. And let's not forget, the most important thing about Gotham." J ran his hand through his hair and he spun around to face you.

"Batss." It was almost a whisper. The gleam in his eye was like nothing you'd seen. He lit up. You watched as he performed.

"After all, if the Bat is out beating and bruising the lowlifes of Gotham in order to locate little old me…Then I'm not missing the fun. So, shall we?" J asked flashing his silver grin. "Pay Lady Gotham a visit?'

"Just like that? Go into Gotham? Now? Boss?" Frost asked almost disbelievingly.

J shook his head 'yes' eagerly, "Oh yes. Let's do."

"I…I mean, come on J. Do you really think it's a good idea with everything that's on the radar? I mean, I still say we conduct business from here." Frost pleaded. "Besides that mess at Arkham is still on everyone minds."

"But, Jonny my boy! Isn't that what you wanted?" J turned his head just enough to look back and address Jonny. "You were just rambling on and on about making our move and taking Gotham."

"Yes, but from here. It's not safe to actually move our operators back into the city. Besides, it's not as if you haven't been overly distracted lately with y/n." As soon as it came out of his mouth Frost cringed, wishing he could take it back.

All movement from J stopped for a second before he snarled, flashing he silver grin as he rolled his eyes shut. For a moment he tilted his head back and lifted his brows; it looked like he was mentally trying to talk himself out of over reacting. It felt like everyone in the room was holding their breath; that everyone knew the consequence of Frost's inquiring and doubt would be perpetrated by all.

It seem to happen in slow motion, J slowly tilted his head back down with a roll of his neck, cracking it. The moment he opened his eyes they met yours; the expression on your face was a mixture between anticipation and encouragement. You were almost advocating J's actions before you even knew what they were going to be. He could see it written all over your face, causing him to smirk quickly; followed by him puckering his lips together and blowing you a hasty kiss.

Then he immediately spun around on his heels to face the boys, giving them a warm and charming smile.

He slowly ran his hand through his hair as he spoke, "Quest-ion. What separates triumph from tragedy?"

J only allowed a slight pause before he answered his own question with a huge grin, "Why just little chaotic luck…of course."

And without warning J had his gun drawn from his shoulder holster and was randomly discharged his gun aimlessly toward the table where Frost, Mo and Ollie sat. By the time his clip was void of bullets, J was laughing hysterically at the prospect of having, maybe, hit someone. Frost, wanting to show courageous and defiance, was still in his chair; his eyes were closed tightly, slightly cringing. Mo and Ollie were completely flat on the floor, taking refuge, cowering from the bullets. They made no immediately movement, keeping their hands and arms covering their heads. From what you saw, everyone appeared unharmed and intact, somehow.

J quickly put his gun away and spun back around on his heels toward you. He said nothing as he reached out his hand and gestured for you to take it. You did. With a yank of your arm he pulled you up and out of the chair, into his reach.

He aggressively hugged you around your lowered back with one arm, pulling in close; his scent coursed through you like a dose of drugs. All you could do was gasp for a breath of air.

Then he whispered into your ear, "Want to know a secret?"

"Yes." You didn't even think about saying it; it just rolled off your tongue like a reflex.

"The scent…" He purred into your ear, "…of gun smoke turns me…"

His arm tighten around your waist, "…on."

He nuzzled his face into your neck briefly before giving you a low deep growl, "Ggrrrrr-hmmmm-hem-hem-he-he-he…" that turned into a soft chuckle that tickled your ear.

This was the most physical contact that J had allowed the two of you to have since that night after breaking you out of Arkham. Regardless of everything that just happened, all you focused on at the very moment was him. You immediately slung your arms around his neck, without a moment's hesitation; the sudden urge felt right. He chuckled softly as his other hand made contact with you. Once he had you in his brace, he started to sway his body back and forth, playfully hugging you.

It wasn't until hearing the sound of Mo and Ollie stirring, that J lifted his head and looked back at them. It was clear that Ollie was spooked and trying to regaining his composer. Mo, use to the violent outburst, simply dusted himself off. However, your eyes went straight to Frost, who still remanded in his chair watching you and J interact; there was contempt on his face. Narrowing your eyes at him in a threating manner, he acknowledged the threat with a challenging, upward nod. And just like that you knew; you knew that one day, very soon, you'd have to kill him or, at the very least, beat the living hell out of him.

"Go get your things together, Gotham's expecting us." J spoke softly, giving you a quick kiss on the top of your head and released his arms from around your waist.

He focused his attention back to the others; speaking loudly and condescendingly to them, "Now that we're all in agreement, we leave after nightfall. Do you concur, gentlemen?"

"Yes, boss." Ollie hastily answered.

Mo nodded at J, and also gave you a nod. However, you were preoccupied still glaring at Frost.

Frost nodded that he understood to J.

"Excellent, then! Let's get to crackin' then. Ollie. Come here." J gestured for Ollie to follow him. As they started leave the room, J started to give him special instructions about moving his newly acquired pet hyenas.

Immediately after nodding to J, Frost got on the phone and started making the necessary arrangements required for a quick, unplanned move back into Gotham. Listening and studying Frost as he conducted his business on the phone, you made sure to show your condemnation of him with the expression on your face. As he talked, he periodically let his eyes glance over to you before quickly acting like he was ignoring you.

"You intimidate him." Mo was standing beside you. "He's finally gotten as close to J as someone like him can and you threaten that for him."

For once you didn't mind Mo trying to talk to you; in fact, you took advantage of it.

"I know." It came out a little on the smug side making you almost smirk.

Gesturing toward Frost, "Do you trust him through?" You kept your voice low as you asked Mo the question.

"Jonny? Sure, I guess. I mean he just wants to be the boss." Mo sounded casual.

Your eyes shot over to Mo and he realized he needed to rephrase his statement, "Not _be_ The Boss but he wants to _be like_ the boss. You know, he tries to act like J, copy him… He's got a man crush. He looks up to him. Admires him."

You nodded your head slowly.

"He's too scared of the boss to ever cross him." Mo added.

"What about me? Would he ever cross me?" You watched to see what express Mo had on his face as you asked the question.

Mo made a doubtful face, "Noooo way. That would be no different than if he crossed the boss. Hell, probably worse. He might be worried about losing his position…but a death wish…not in a million years."

Mo's eyes followed you as you quickly glanced back toward Frost who was now leaving the room.

"Specially now, you're not just the boss's right-hand-man anymore…" Mo continued to talk as you stared at the door Frost disappeared threw. "Even before everyone knew…there was no way anyone would have touched you. Hell, you ran everything for J and with that came-"

Your attention peeked by something Mo said and you interrupted him, "Before everyone knew? Knew what?"

You turned your whole body toward Mo to address him, "What exactly does everyone know?"

Mo's expression changed, as if he was fearful that he'd said the wrong thing, "I didn't mean anything-"

You interrupted him again, "Tell me."

Mo's acted hesitant, "I mean, you know. You and the boss where close, always had been, from the time I started working for J. Naturally, people always assume the worst when two people work close together. You know how it is."

You lifted an eyebrow in suspicion, "There must have been a reason to think that."

Mo clearly felt uncomfortable talking about this.

"Mo." You used a demanding tone that made him look instantly back at you.

"Yeah, alright. There were a few incidences, we all saw it." Mo nervously continued, "Before that, you and him had always kept things very professional. Then…"

He stopped to think to himself for a moment, "About a year before, what we all thought was, your death you and the boss got into, what I through was a fight but thinking back…I'm not sure if it wasn't more of a…" He trailed off then immediately picked right back up in the same spot of his story.

"Anyway, I don't know what it was, but after that night, the flirting, the two of you disappearing for hours at a time, it all seemed to quickly snowball and became noticeable to everyone. Pretty soon, one thing led to another and…let's just say that there was no longer an effort to hide what was happening between the two of you…" Mo waited for you to say something, but you didn't.

You were rationalizing everything in your head; he had just confirmed everything you'd suspected about yours and J's relationship before this…mess happened.

You gave a short lived smile; you were ready to be along.

"Get to work. We'll be leaving in a few hours." You said, as you began to walk off.

 **Meanwhile, Somewhere in Gotham…**

"I don't believe you. Where's The Joker?" Batman growled at Harley.

"Honest, b-man. I don't work for Mister J anymore." Harley acted coy and innocent. "The last time I saw him was the same day he went tearing through Arkham a few weeks ago."

She giggled bubbly, "That was some joke you and Commissioner G pulled on my Puddin'. Making everyone think the Maroni was dead. Yeah, Mister J really believed she/he was done in for." She made a dead face with her tongue hanging out before she started to laugh.

Then Harley made a quick, last ditch effort to escape The Bat by trying to blind side him with her empty gun, using it as a blunt object. It was a futile gesture only causing the Bat to cuff her hands behind her back.

"You two are thick as thieves. You don't really expect me to believe that you're not on a job for The Joker, right now. Do you?" Batman almost sounded amused.

Harley's face wrinkled up out of angry, "Yeah, that's right! Believe it or not, if you want to. It doesn't change the fact that…" She hesitated, "That me and Mister J…we aren't a couple any more. I'm over that…that..."

Her angry quickly faded into sadden before she perked right up again, "Besides, I'd never give Mister J up, regardless. You know that, B-man. I'm loyal to my Puddin'."

"Quinn! Innocent people will get hurt the longer he's out on the streets." Batman pleaded.

For a moment she thought it over. There were so many reasons to tell Batman where he could find The Joker. She thought back on the last thing J had said to her, prompting her to leave: _"Oh Harley. You know what they say, if you love something, let it go. And if it comes back… you keep it. Well, she's/he's back and Daddy's got no use for you now."_ The very idea of her Puddin'…with you made her blood boil but even then, that wasn't enough. For all the reasons to rat, there was still one reason not too: she loved him.

She started to shake her head no, "Sorry, Batsy. I just don't know where to find him."

He could read it on her face that he'd never get it out of her.

"Have it your way then, Quinn." Batman started to drag her toward the Batmobile. "Either way, it's back to Arkham with you."

Harley pulled back, struggling with the Bat, trying to get her footing so she could walk on her own. Bruce allowed it, keeping one hand gripping her upper arm for caution.

The door of the Batmobile opened, "In." Batman ordered.

"Oh come on, B-man. Isn't there something a girl could do to change your mind? A favor for a favor, how's about it, Batss?" The sexual tone of what she was offering was more than obvious.

Harley giggled, "You can keep the cuffs on me if it makes you feel safe."

She batted her eyes, "After all, I don't need my hands…just my mouth." Even when she tried to be sexy her tone was overly bubbly and off putting to the Bat.

"Quinn." Bruce was stern. "Enough. Have some dignity."

"Fine, but you can't blame a girl for trying." She pouted and crawled into the Bat Mobile.

 **Back at the Hideout…**

You skimmed over all the unopened boxes before looking down at the duffle bag beside you, then back to the boxes. There were so many; all marked with your name. So far you had only gotten around to opening two of them; lucky finding some clothes in the second box. In order to keep as much of your belongs out of the cops hands after your "death" J had his men boxed up nearly everything from your house before having it boarded-up. This seemly unimportant act didn't mean much until you took to account that J hadn't threw away any of it, even after a year.

You looked over all the boxes again; feeling discouraged you started in the bathroom. One big swoop of your arm and you were done; all the toilettes on the counter had been dumped into the duffle bag. You felt accomplished, at least a little bit. So with a deep breath, you walked back to face the unopened boxes; you peered down at one of the boxes, giving it a dirty look.. Each one seemed like an unnecessary obstacle placed in your way, just to diminish your hopes of getting on with your life.

 _"This is silly. Just open them."_ You scowled yourself.

But was it silly? Was it senseless or was it smart to fear what they may hold; the truths, the lies or the secrets they could contain. The thought made you feel overwhelmed. Holding your breath, you reached out with a shaky a hand and opened the first box. The smell of books hit your nose and a sigh of relief washed over you, but only for a moment; your eyes moved on to the next box and you felt the same rush of dread. Box after box, you had to force yourself to open each one. Leaving the stuff in them untouched, you were building up to that part of the ordeal. Or maybe that was as far as you wanted, nay, needed to go; you hadn't complete decided yet.

Suddenly, there was one exception; nearing the last box you opened one that contained more clothes. You dug through the spoils of this particular box with a smile on your face. You pulled a once folded over garment bag out of the box and unzipped it. Your eyes lit up as you saw what was inside the bag. It was difficult choosing once one to wear out of the six suits.

 _"Excellent taste."_ You commended yourself, as you finished dressing.

The dark gray pinstripe suit was slightly wrinkled but it fit like a glove; clearly, it had been tailored to fit every inch of your body. Examining your 'new' old wardrobe in the mirror, you couldn't help feel boastfully about your appearance; you were starting to understand why the boss would have been attracted to you.

 _"Your ass looks amazing in these pants."_ You critiqued yourself, while still looking in the mirror.

Digging into the same box, you found some boots; so you continued deeper, hoping to find socks. Instead, in the very bottom of the box, wrapped in a few pieces of clothes were some framed photos. Once you realized what they were you hesitated before looking at them but ultimately found the courage. You found yourself looking at a group photo that you were part of. You studied yourself; there you were, wearing the same type of suit, a double shoulder holster packing two guns, a huge smile across your face and an elbow rested on Mo's shoulder. Behind you, with his head poked out to the side, was J sticking his tongue out at the camera.

In the photo, Mo was clearly 20 pounds lighter and younger. There was another person beside Mo who you didn't recognize. You moved your eyes back to J. Not only was he sticking his tongue out, but his was giving you bunny ears. His green hair was slightly longer than he how he kept it now and it was brushed over to one side. You laughed to yourself and agreed that it looked better shorter. You also had different hair. It was shorter in the photo; over the last year it had grown out a few inches. Even then, your hair in the photo was still shorter than it was in the news clips of you jumping from the roof top and being caught by The Bat; you actually liked it.

Taking the photo into the bathroom, you studied your reflection in the mirror for a while before looking back at the photo one last time. Digging through the duffle bag, you found a straight razor and opened it. Not really to your surprise, there appeared to be blood on it; so you washed it and dried it. You held up a section of your hair and with a deep breath and slight cringe, you sliced. Piece by piece, section by section you chopped your hair off, discarded it in the sink, until it mimicked the haircut in the photo.

Wetting your fingers, you ran them through your freshly cut hair; trying to decide exactly which side you liked the part on best. It suited you well; edgy, badass and just a little sexy. You glanced down at the photo and then back to your reflection and smiled.

Almost, as if on que, you heard J enter into the room. Feeling the rush from having an ego boost, you walked out of the bathroom to find him staring at the boxes.

"You opened them." He mumbled out as he glanced over to you. Then doing a double take at you, he froze.

Was he astonished or disappointed? You just couldn't tell, standing there, staring back at him. J gawked at you with his odd expression, making you feel slightly less attractive than your initial vanity had generated. The stand-off ended when you decided to take a step toward him but hesitating and then stopping altogether. Sensing your reluctance, J gestured for you to come toward him with a wave of his long elegant fingers. Slow approaching him, he held out his hand for you to take. He lifted your arm up and gave you a slow spin in order to relish every inch of you, overtly displaying the fact that he liked what he saw.

For the first time, you completely resembled the person that he had missed so desperately. The person he wanted and desired. The person he dreamed about; his vicious and deathly partner in crime that he'd pined for over the last year. He was completely seduced.

There was no control, he seized you; pulling you to him, until your back was completely flat against his body. His hands lustfully moved around your body until one hand was suggestively holding your lowered waist and the other hand was passionately gripping your throat, tilting your head to the side so he could kiss your neck.

You let out a low whimper as he grinded his whole body against you, holding you firmly in place. Out of pure reflex, your arms reached backwards, your hands grabbed the slender curve of J's hips and you pushed your ass against him. Suddenly, you found yourself being lifted by the waist and carried across the room.

Face first; he tossed you down onto the bed. J was immediately on top of you, knees on either side of your legs and his hands aggressive snaking under your body, where he started unbuttoning your pants with urgency.

"Wait." You were definitely turn-on but still very reluctant.

There was no heeding on J's part as he continued to explore your body as he pleased. You gasped as his hand forcefully slipped inside your pants, pass your underwear and found its way between your thighs. You wanted him but not like this.

"Wait-Wait." You growled it a lot louder this time and bucked against him out of objection.

For a moment he hesitated before removing his hand. You felt his weight lift off of you, giving you spilt second of a false sense of relief. He aggressively took your pants and began trying to tug the down over your hips. Fight or flight took over; your elbow went up as your body rolled over, knocking him across his face hard. He stumbled back and caught his footing, grinning as he reached up to feel whether or not you'd broken his nose.

Like a deer in headlights you frozen but immediately snapped out of it.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." It rolled off your tongue like rapid gun fire as you quickly got to your feet and tried comforting J.

He took a step back from you, keeping you from touching him. His grin was still across his face as he spoke, "Sorry? Oh, you're gonna be."

Before you could even comprehend what he had just said to you, J half heartily backed handed you. It hurt enough to make you reach up and cup your cheek. Then suddenly he had you by the back of the neck, viciously manhandling you. Forced you back toward the bed, you struggled prompting him to shove you violently toward the night stand. Tumbling backward, you lost your footing causing you to fall into night stand unbraced; your ribcage taking the brunt of the impact, incredibly hard. You cringed loudly; the wave of pain made you feel suddenly nauseated for a moment.

You pulled yourself up, using the night stand to support your weight. At quick as the nauseating feeling had come it was gone and replaced with something else; a rush of endorphins. You let out a short laugh before standing up to face J. He was on top of you before you knew what was happening, pinning you against the wall with one arm across your chest and his other tightly against your throat. To your surprise, the fear, the anxiety, which one would assume would be felt while being attacked, wasn't there. You showed no fear.

His body pushed against he and you smirked in his face. He instantly removed his arm from you throat and replaced it with just his hand; squeezing your throat almost playfully. Another smirk crossed your face his he leaned in close; not only could you see that he was panting but you could feel his panting as his chest raptly moved. There was a spark of intense sexual desire and at the point, you didn't know if you wanted to hit or kiss him.

You didn't think about it, you just did; reaching up and grabbing his f ace, you pulled his lips to yours. Immediately, there was a push and pull as both of you tried to demand control of the kiss. Wildly osculating back and forth, there was a mix of love and hate.

"Fuck." J abruptly jerked away.

Touching his already bleeding lip, "You bit the shit out of me."

A huge smile creeped across his face; then he let out a chuckle of amusement.

Your adrenaline was pumping and your need for physical contact, both sexual and violent, was indispensable at this point.

You leaned forward and in a challenging tone, "what are you going do about it?'

Unexpectedly, you caught J off guard, slapping him across the face with extreme force. Like an animal he pounced. A quick struggle resulted in him getting the better of you. Pinning you face first against the wall and twisting your arms behind your back for leverage; he was panting heavily, tickling your ear. You tried to break free; it was more of a teasing wiggle than a real attempt to get free. In return, he tightened his grip, holding you in place, happily feeding into this violent, sexually charged game. The mutual, back and forth, grinding and rutting between the two of you made it impossible to hide how aroused J had become.

Turning your head to the side J kissed as much of your mouth as he could; you could feel urgency behind his effort. He forcefully spun around to face him and immediately attacked you with a vicious kiss. Once again, there was a power struggle over who would control the kiss. Cupping both side of your face, trying to hold your head still, J demanded control; advisedly slamming your head back into the wall. It hurt just enough to make another wave of adrenaline excite you. As J leaned in to resume the kiss, thinking he had won the bid for control, you met him with a head butt.

It hurt.

You'd hit him way too hard and the wrong way; causing more harm to yourself than to him. Immediately, you felt light headed and everything went burry for just a second or two. Then you went out, almost hitting the floor except J caught you.

His laughter was like distance echoing in your head; you were mildly disoriented as you came to. J was hovering, beaming down at you, as you laid on the bed. He was smiling at you with a busted lip, banged up nose and a bright red knot on his forehead; not to mention the blood and lipstick smeared on his face and down his neck. For a second you waited, not completely sure of what was going to happen next.

Your body was still feeling the effects of everything; the rush of adrenaline from the fighting and the lustful state that your body was in needed tenting to, it was imperative. You slightly adjusted your body and moved your arm around his body. He leaned over you even more, cupping the side of your face almost tenderly; you nudged face against his hand as he began to caress your cheek with his thumb. Then he ran his thumb over your lips, causing you to take it into your mouth. The hungry was already there but it began to building as J watched you provocatively kiss and nipple his thumb in a teasing manner.

Lowering his head, he finally kissed you again.

It wasn't vicious like before, instead it was tender but passionate. There was a more affectionate recognition between the push and pull flow up the kiss this time; when one took, the other gave and when one gave, the other took. J's hand held your head, keeping your lips connected to his as long as his breath would last. A quick breath and he was back to lavishing you with another kiss; this time he slowly began to adjust himself on top of you. Your bodies moved in sync together, complementing the other as he allowed his weight to gently pin your body against the bed.

A naturally progression occurred and the sweet making-out turned into fondling foreplay; kissing wildly, hands exploring, the two of you grinding and rutting like two teenagers making out with a yearning that they were afraid to fill. Finally, there was a natural pause; the both you, panting heavily, hearts racing, hormones raging just stared at each other. A soft smirk crossed your face and you gave J a nod to proceed…

He pushed himself up to his knees and began to peel out of his white vest and black dress shirt. Suddenly, clothes took to the air as everything was promptly removed. The two of you were completely naked as he crawled to you and then on top of you. It was all moving fast, there was no time to admire each other's naked form; the physical urgency to have sex was too much for the both of you. His hand glided against your skin and up your body as he crawled into a mounting position between your thighs.

Your legs instinctively wrapped around his waist as he stayed on his knees for leverage. Your body responded almost involuntary, rolling your hips toward him the moment you felt his erection tickle your thigh; begging to have him in your body. He grinned as you rolled your hips against him again and this time grinding back, moaning from the friction. He buried his face into your neck and with his hand on base of his erection, he guided his cock into you with a slow thrust; not stopping tilt he was fully hilt deep into your body. J let out a muffled groan from where he was biting your neck, trying to control his urge to just start pounding away.

A long airy gasp escaped your throat from the unexpected rush of being at this juncture. Your body had been ready and willing, ripe for the taking but your mind wasn't completely prepared for experience. However, the physical and mental feeling of intrusion instantaneously gave away to gratification as your body inherently knew what to do. With the roll of your hips against J, pleasure surged through your body making you wanted more. He gladly gave you what your body asked for, slowly pulling his cock halfway out and then sinking it right back into you warm welcoming body. Your fingers tangled in his hair as you arched your body under him. Immediately, the two of you were maneuvering and accommodating the other, grinding at a moderate pace, finally re-consummating the physical part of the relationship you and J shared.

For the longest time, J kept his head buried in the curve of your neck. From the sound of his moans, that seemed to accompany his rhythm, you could only assume he was adequately enjoying himself; perhaps he was working through his own moment of being physically and emotional over-stimulated. Finally, he lifted his head, kissing his way up your neck before taking your earlobe into his mouth. He playfully bit it as he rested his head against yours.

Cheek to cheek, he whispers into your ear, "Don't ever leave me again."

It boarded a mixture of threatening and pleading. As if he was saying 'I missed you' and 'you'll regret it, if you do ever leave'.

He immediately picked up the tempo, making his thrust more energetic as you barely answered, "I won't."

You turned your head to find his lips, kissing him viciously. His hand found its way around your throat, almost cupping your chin from underneath, as he continued to kiss you. The two of you were a crazed mess of heavy breathing, wild humping and kissing; a ball of legs and arms, wrapping around, grabbing, and holding on the each other.

Without warning J stopped mid-stroke and mumbled, "Shit. Oh, shit."

He quickly sat up on his knees and pulled his erection out of you. For a second, he tried to get handle on the situation, regain his control and composer, but it was too late. There was no turning back; he was in the final act, climaxing into his hand with his head tilted up, allowing himself to revel in the pleasure of the moment.

Surprisingly, you felt no disappointment as you watched almost spellbound; he was gorgeous.

Finally, he lowered his head with a sigh of relief, "pphheeww."

You smirked at him and chewed your bottom lip.

He narrowed his eyes playfully, "See what you do to me?" He took his free hand and playfully shoved your bent leg that rested on him.

Suddenly, he was off the bed and headed toward the bathroom. Your eyes followed him until you could see him no longer. You were still a mess of lustful need, having been so close to bliss only the have it snatched away for you at the last moment; it didn't matter though. You snicker to yourself, thinking about how abruptly J had busted his load. There was a little inkling of pride you felt, knowing you had caused him to lose control.

Hearing him come out of the restroom, your eyes immediately followed him again. He strutted across the room with a smug grin on his face and literally jumped onto the bed. He crawled right up beside you, threw himself down onto his back and stared at the ceiling, mimicking the same position you were resting in. You let your hand slowly creep across the small space between the two of you until your fingers bumped against J's hand. As soon as he felt you, he slid his own hand and threaded his fingers in-between yours. You didn't have to look over at him and he didn't have to look over at you to know that the other one was smiling. Somehow, the two of you already understood that inclination and nothing more needed saying.


End file.
